My Rock, My Diamond
by Kiap38
Summary: Glee has ruined my OTP Samcedes! But there is someone there for Mercedes to help pick up the pieces of her broken heart while trying to cope with his own love lost. Can these broken friends be each other's rock that he/she needs or is there potential for more? Originally a one-shot. Mostly Canon. I own nothing Glee.
1. Chapter 1

As he made his way down the stairs of the dimly lit auditorium, he heard light sobbing and knew he had found her. He spotted her sequin shirt glistening in the light, as she sat in the first row in front of the stage. As he approached her, he saw her body stiffen from behind, and knew that his presence had been made known.

He sat in the seat beside her. "It's hard, isn't it?" Mike stated to his friend who was attempting to wipe her face from the tears that had just been falling. "Coming back here, seeing... them again. I know how you're feeling, and I just want you to know that I'm here for you," he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his.

With her big brown eyes, Mercedes peered up at him. "Does it get easier, Mike? I mean, at least Tina acknowledges you, even if it is with disdain. Sam acts as if we never had anything between us. As if the summer before and my senior year weren't real. As if we never... _loved_ each other." She sniffled again.

Mike could feel the sleeve of his plaid shirt become damp, and knew that she was crying again. "And here I thought Tina's and my love would last the test of time," he mumbled to himself. "Couldn't even make it to the start of the school year." He chuckled bitterly.

She looked up again. "And do you mind telling me what's so funny Mr. Chang? Because all I see here are two heart-broken pathetic individuals. Hell, at least you're good enough to find someone else to love you..." she whispered the last part under her breath hoping he would disregard it, but no such luck.

He sat her up and looked at her sternly. "First of all, we may be heart-broken, _Ms. Jones_, but we are NOT pathetic. Secondly," he stated more softly, "any man would be lucky to have a woman like you. You are doing yourself a disservice by selling yourself short like that. Where's the Mercedes I know who was confident and proud of who she was? Who brought Rachel Berry to a concession with her powerful solo of And I Am Telling You? Who knew that she rocked her audition for Maria in West Side Story, and refused to share her rightful spotlight with anyone else? Who headed the TroubleTones? And who followed her dreams and moved all the way to LA to pursue them? Where's that bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Cedes I know?"

A small smirk crept up on her face despite the tears brimming in her eyes. "Right here, I guess." She nudged his shoulder playfully with her own. "Dangit, Chang, you weren't supposed to make me smile this easily." She paused. "But... it still hurts so much. I thought I'd moved on, but seeing him just brings back a rush of feelings I _thought_ I had buried so deep. Seeing him makes me miss being loved again."

"Cedes, I'm your friend. I'm supposed to make you smile. And it's going to hurt. Trust me, I'm right there with you. But we can't wallow in depression and dwell on what's in the past. We are here in the present and that's what we need to focus on." He stood up and grabbed her hand to pull her up, too. "And you have no need to fear that you won't find someone else. Any man stupid enough to pass up on this steaming cup of hot chocolate standing in front of me doesn't deserve to be with you anyway."

Mercedes laughed aloud at that as they made their way up the stage to get ready for the call back dance number for those hoping to score the roles of Danny and Sandy in the Grease Musical they were helping to put on. She knew he was just being nice, but it made her feel good nonetheless. "Well then," she started, "where is this man who'll be man enough to love me, since you know so much?" she teased.

They reached the center of the stage, and Mike felt Mercedes go rigid. Still holding her hand, he turned around. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He was looking at the shorter girl, but she was displaying a far off look. He waved his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Mercedes!"

She relaxed slightly and her gaze hit the floor. The rush of emotions swept over her like a hurricane. "This is where it all started," she whispered. "Asking him to prom, Human Nature, our first and only duet, a shared kiss..." She touched her fingertips slightly to her lips, remembering the way his full lips felt on her own. Her head then snapped up. "I'm sorry, Mike. I can't do this. This is just too much." She turned around and attempted to leave, but Mike never let go of her hand.

He pulled her back to him in one swift motion, and held her face in both his hands. Making her look at him through blood-shot eyes, he said, "Hey now. You're stronger than that, Cedes. You CAN do this. _We_ can do this... together. I know you wish you can take all the memories and erase them so you never have to feel this pain again, but these same memories are ones we'll smile about later." He then grabbed both of her hands in his. "Love is out there waiting, for both of us. So until your Prince Charming comes, Mercedes, you'll have me to lean on. I'll be here for you, if you'll have me. Friends?" He held out his pinky to her.

A small smile formed on her lips, and she raised her hand to loop her pinky with his. "Friends. And the same goes for you. I'll be your rock if you be mine."

He returned her smile. "That's a deal, Ms. Jones." He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. If only she knew how much she meant to him. If only she knew how his heart broke more for her than himself. He just wanted to hold her and shield her from the pain forever. She was precious to him, already his rock, no, his precious gem. She was the one right there to see him through his break-up with Tina. Though he still kept in touch with many of his high school friends, Mercedes had become his best friend. Since she was so close to Tina, he looked to her for advice and ended up gaining much more than he could have asked for. Little did he know that soon after, he'd return the favor when Sam broke it off with her. They were each other's confidants, and he loved her fiercely, maybe even a little more than just a friend. But right now, she needed him as a friend, so that was what he was willing to be.

He released his hold on her, and wiped away the last tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Okay! Now let's get to work on that Hand Jive! We've got an hour to make sure you got it perfected before the audition. Can't have the kiddies out dancing you," he teased. "Booty Camp's a go!" He shouted, tapping his friend on the backside as she walked to get to her spot on stage.

"Ha Ha. Very funny, Chang. And leave my Booty out of this." She smirked.

Mercedes was so thankful to have a friend like Mike. Despite his relationship with Tina, or lack thereof, she and Mike had grown close over the summer, what with them all double-dating. It had almost been like Tina and Sam both planned to break up with them at the same time. They found solace in each other through the pain, but built a friendship on the joy and hope and comfort they gave one another. She rarely talked to Tina anymore, or Kurt, or Rachel, or anyone for that matter, but she always managed to make time for texting, calling and Skyping with Mike. He was more than her friend, he was her backbone. Even with the thousands of miles in between them, it didn't put a strain on their friendship. She didn't know what lay ahead for the two of them, but she was just grateful for his presence in the here and now.

"Well, what can I say?" Mike asked. "My friend's a cutie with a booty." He smiled at the blush creeping up on her cheeks though she was trying to hide it behind a mean glare. "Now, let's make some of our own memories on this stage... Hit the music!"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the reviews and the support! This is my first time writing and I just want to do my best. I appreciate all comments good or bad. I just ask that you be constructive and not destructive. My plan was to post an update a week from the first chapter, but I got so excited I had to do it early. I hope you all enjoy. On to Chapter number 2! Review or Mercedes will bust the windows out your car... and sing about it! ;]**

* * *

She read the text message for the umpteenth time, since it was sent almost four hours ago.

**_Can we talk? Lima Bean 7:30 tomorrow morning._**

She didn't know what Sam could possibly want to talk to her about, but she was too curious to say no and too petrified to say yes, so instead, she said nothing. She lay in her bed at her parent's house, staring at the ceiling daydreaming of all the possible ways the conversation could go.

_"I still love you. Let's try to make this work."_

_"Please, don't make this hard. I'd rather not see your face here again."_

_"I'm gay."_

But in all seriousness, what if he did want to work things out? He only spent her entire visit here ignoring and avoiding her like the plague, and now two days before she had to catch her flight back to LA, he wanted to chat?

Regardless, Mercedes couldn't help the feeling in her stomach at the thought of speaking to him one on one. She just didn't know if they were butterflies or bats. She hadn't lied when she sang that song to him this past Valentine's Day. She would always and still did love him, but was it enough to erase the heartache he'd caused her? _Ugh!_ she thought. _This is giving me a headache!_

She shook her head, picked up her phone and dialed Mike's number. She was sure that he'd give her the best advice and not be judgmental or laugh at her indecision of the whole situation. If anyone would understand her situation, he would. They were both hopelessly single, after all. After the fourth ring, it was finally picked up.

"Hello?" It wasn't Mike's voice that answered, though. It was a woman's voice. "Mercedes?"

Tina.

"H-hey. Is, uh, Mike there?"

"Yeah, but he's in the shower. Um, why are you calling Mike? Didn't think y'all were that close." Tina said accusingly.

"Look, T, it's not like that." Why would she care anyways? "And I didn't think that y'all were that close anymore either," she shot back a little defensively. "I mean you're hanging out at his house this late. It's almost 11:00—"

"Well I don't believe that's any of your business what me and Mike do this late," Tina interrupted. "Anyways, I'll tell him you called, but I wouldn't wait up for his call. Later." And with that she hung up.

Mercedes couldn't believe that just happened. Since when did Tina treat her friends like that? And what the heck was she doing there so late answering Mike's phone? Most importantly, why did Mercedes care? Well screw it! If Mike can reconcile with his ex, so could she.

She pulled up her text messages, and quickly typed back in response.

**_C u then._**

She set her alarm for the morning, attached her phone to the charger on her bedside table, turned off her lamp, and snuggled up under her blanket. As she drifted off to sleep she couldn't help but think about what was to come in the day ahead.

* * *

Mike stepped out of the shower. He was grateful for the hot water used to relax his muscles because it had been a long day of dance rehearsals for the musical. Tomorrow was opening night, and he wanted everything to be perfect so he pushed everyone and himself harder than he had before. The day after tomorrow he had to return back to Chicago, and he was bittersweet about the whole situation. He enjoyed spending time with his old friends, especially Mercedes. Though they talked all the time over the phone or Skype, nothing compared to being able to hang out with her in person. So tomorrow, he planned to make the most out of the day with her before they were forced to be apart again.

After completely drying off, he slipped on his underwear and wrapped his towel around his waist. Though his parents were out of town, and he was alone by himself, he still felt a need to be modest in his parents' house. When he walked into his room, he was startled to find Tina sitting at the end of his bed with his phone in her hand.

"Tina! What the hell? What are you doing here?" he shouted, gripping the towel tighter around his waist.

"I didn't know you and Mercedes were so close," she stated, ignoring his outburst. "From your text messages, you two have quite the friendship."

He didn't know why or how she was here, but he was trying to keep his cool. "You read my text messages?" he asked through clenched teeth. "What gives you the right to come over unannounced, practically break in, and violate my privacy?"

"Well I came over to talk, but you were in the shower so I decided to wait. That's when Mercedes called. I told her not to wait up, by the way, for your phone call. Anyways, it made me curious as to how deep your relationship is with her that she can call at these _indecent_ hours of the night. So I went looking through your texts myself." She reclined back and folded her arms. "You two seem a little TOO close."

He couldn't believe the nerve of this girl sitting in front of him. This was not the Tina he used know. He didn't recognize this person. "YOU," he started incredulously, "have the audacity to come over this late, and disapprove of Cedes phone call?!" He was livid. "I can talk to whomever I please. You're the one who broke up with me, remember? You know what!? I don't have to explain anything to you, Tina. You lost that privilege when you dumped me. Just leave... NOW." He stated the last part menacingly.

Unfazed, she stood up and walked directly up to him. "If you think you can hurt me by dating my friend, you've got another thing coming, Michael... Chang... Jr." She emphasized each of his names with a poke to the chest. And with that she turned and stomped out of his room. He waited for the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut before he let go of the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He grabbed his phone and saw that Mercedes had called almost an hour ago.

He quickly highlighted her name and hit the CALL button.

"Hello—"

"Mercedes!"

"—you've reached the phone of Mercedes Jones. I'm not able to take your call right now, so leave something short and sweet after the beep."

"Dammit!" he swore. She must have already been asleep. He hung up the phone not leaving a message, and texted her.

**_Sry about Tina. I think she's gone nuts. Ttyl Night._**

He quickly put on some pajama pants, ran to the front door, locked and dead-bolted the locks, and did the same with the back door. Tina was uncharacteristically psychotic tonight. If Mike knew she was going to behave this way, he wouldn't have done what he did earlier. Innocent enough she must have taken it the wrong way.

EARLIER THAT DAY.

_Mercedes had just finished with the vocal portion of rehearsal and everyone was talking and grabbing a drink during the 15 minute break before Mike led the dance rehearsal for the play. He told everyone to make sure they were hydrated and had their dancing shoes on because today was the last rehearsal before opening night and he wanted everything to be perfect. He wasn't planning on ending rehearsal until every move was precisely executed as choreographed._

_"Don't you think you're being a little Nazi-ish about this, Mike?" Mercedes asked sitting next to him on the edge of the stage. "I mean they've been practicing so hard for this play and I really think they're good."_

_Mike finished tying his shoes and looked up at her. "I don't want it to just be good, Cedes, I want them to be great. They have so much potential and I just wanted to make sure that it's showcased on that stage in its entirety come tomorrow night. And if I have to keep them here all night then that's what I'll do!" He slapped his fist against the stage for emphasis._

_At that moment, Mercedes phone went off indicating she got a text. "Well, Chang, I'm gonna have to pass up on your torture this evening," she stated reading the text. "It looks like my mom is going to be running late leaving work and she needs me to run a few errands for her."_

_"Aww, boo!" He jumped off the stage and lifted her down off the stage._

_"Boy, you're going to hurt your back picking me up like that," she said jokingly but still feeling self-conscious. Mercedes loved herself and her curves. She looked in the mirror and saw beauty looking back, but she wasn't naïve enough to not know that her type of beauty wasn't considered standard._

_"Hush, woman," he jokingly chastised her. "If you don't remember, we were dance partners all through sophomore year and I had no problem lifting you then, and I'm in much better shape now."_

That you are_, Mercedes thought to herself. "Well anyways, I have to get going," she said grabbing her bag and the rest of her things from one of the front row chairs. "So you'll have to find another dance partner today. Sorry, Mike." She slung her bag over her shoulder. "But I suppose you could always use Brittany."_

_"Yeah, I suppose so." he frowned a little. "Well, drive safe and I'll see you tomorrow."_

_"Thanks, Mike. Later!" she waved good-bye as she made her way up the stairs to the auditorium exit. _

_Mike was mesmerized for a moment watching her hips sway as she sashayed away. He was broken out of his trance when someone appeared beside him and spoke. It was Sam._

_"Hey, Mike. Brittany texted me and said she was gonna be a little late getting back here. Something about Lord Tubbington... I don't know. But she says she'll be here."_

_Mike didn't look away from the spot where Mercedes had just exited. Instead he just acknowledged his former classmate with a head nod and a, "K, thanks, man." When_ _Sam walked away, he rubbed the back of his head. _Great. Guess I'll have to just wing it 'til Brittany shows up.

_He turned around to make his way back on stage and called out to his dancing pupils, "Alright everyone, fall in line! No time for games today; tomorrow's opening night and I need all of you guys to be on the money!"_

_Everyone made their way back to the center of the stage, as Ryder, the kid who was playing Danny, spoke up. "Mike, Marley and I have been practicing 'You're the One That I Want' all last night and all today and we want to show you what we've got. That okay?"_

_"Alright then, brave souls," he smirked. "Everyone else, fall back but pay close attention. Ryder, Marley, you're up."_

_The rest of the glee club watched on as the couple performed their number. Paying attention to every detail Mike knew he was going to need a partner to exemplify certain techniques for them. He was hoping Brittany would show up by end of the song, and in the back of his mind, he wished Mercedes had never left. _I wonder if she's made it out of the parking lot yet or is she still fixing her hair and make-up in the mirror—Mike, FOCUS!

_The music stopped. "So," Ryder breathed, chest heaving up and down, "what'd you think?" Marley stood beside him smiling in anticipation while trying to catch her breath as well._

_"Well I'll tell you what I think," Kitty stood up. "Marley, you're playing Sandy, not Jan. Maybe if you laid off the Twinkie's and HoHo's then Ryder would be able to lift you without looking like he's straining to haul a giant barrel of lard to your favorite fried chicken place—"_

_"Well I'll tell you what Unique thinks," Unique interrupted. "I think my girl Marley danced the hell out of that song," she declared ending with a finger snap._

_"Said the giant barrel of lard," Kitty retorted._

_"Look here, Skipper!" Unique stood up taking offher earrings. "I will snatch you up by that ponytail so fast—!"_

_"OKAY! Enough!" Mike's voice rose over the bickering and quieted everyone down. "While I appreciated the, uh, _passion_, ladies, I'd like to hear from others. Any other CONSTRUCTIVE criticism?"_

_Blaine spoke up, "You just said it. Passion. While, I agree with Unique that they danced the choreo really well, they lacked the passion and chemistry to make it their own."_

_"Exactly!" Mike stood up and looked around, scoping his options. _Kitty? No. Sugar is not even paying attention. Unique? Awkward! Tina..._ "Tina! Would you mind coming up here and helping me show them what dancing with a little chemistry looks like?" _Mistake or not, too late to turn back now.

_Tina rose up from the floor hesitantly. She made her way over to Mike and spoke so that only he could hear. "Mike I know that you're still in love with me, but I don't feel the same way about you anymore. And if you think you're going to seduce me back into a web of lust with you by using your sexy dance moves and hip thrusts, spare yourself the disappointment. It's not going to work."_

The hell?_ Mike thought. "Tina, with all due respect, I do still care about you, but this has nothing to do with that. You're a great dancer and actress and we've been dance partners in the past. If you feel uncomfortable, just let me know." _

_Tina crossed her arms. "Fine, Mike, I'll do it." She spoke up so everyone could hear, "Okay! Ryley, pay attention, cause I'm only willing to do this once."_

Oh boy, way to make things NOT awkward at all, Tina,_ he thought sarcastically. They got into position, and the music started. Everything was going smooth and the two were really dancing well together, vibing off of each other. Then came the lift. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and rested his forehead against his as they twirled around and sang the words to the song. He was impressed that she was acting so well, smiling and giggling as if she really was a lovestruck teenager. She even mastered the twinkle in her eye._

_When the music stopped, she rested her forehead against his once again and smiled. He felt her legs tighten around his waist. _Man, it feels so good to hold her in my arms again— No, wait, WHAT?!_ He eyed his left and right sides and noticed everyone staring, and realized that this didn't look good. He practically peeled her off, and regained his composure. "Thanks, Tina."_

_Tina just tilted her head and smiled, "Anytime, Mike."_

_Mike rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "O-Kay. Marley, Ryder, everyone, did anyone learn anything?"_

_"I'll say," Kitty smirked. "I learned how little Asian offspring are made." Giggles and chuckles resounded on the stage._

_Mike felt his face heat up and knew that he was beet red. "Okay, anything a little less inappropriate?"_

_"Yeah, that really fat cats are hard to get out of really small holes." Brittany called out walking into the auditorium with a dirt-clad shirt and grass-stained leggings._

Nice timing, Brit,_ Mike thought to himself._

* * *

The next morning, Mercedes sat in her car in front of the Lima Bean, anticipating her meeting with Sam. She awoke that morning before her alarm even went off knowing that her nerves wouldn't allow her to sleep another minute. She'd seen Mike's text message from the night before, and didn't feel like dealing with that situation at the moment when she had more pressing matters to deal with. She subconsciously took extra time getting ready and carefully doing her hair. Looking at the mirror, she was pleased with her ensemble of a strapless white, knee-length sundress accented with a thin gold waist belt, gold feather-shaped earrings and matching necklace, and gold wedges. She had pulled her already curled hair back into a simple but elegant ponytail. Mercedes knew that Sam would love it. He once at admitted that he liked her hair curly, but pulled up because he loved to nestle and kiss her neck with nothing in the way. She smiled at the memory, but then frowned at the fact that she was trying so hard to impress him. She threw on a jean jacket. _There. That looks a little more casual. It screams, 'I'm not looking this hot just for you, but I know you wish you had this.' _She smirked to herself in the mirror, before grabbing her bag, her cell phone and keys, telling her mom where she was headed and running out the door.

She looked at the dashboard. '7:27.' That's when she noticed her blonde-headed ex open the door and walk in the coffee shop. From her car, she could see inside through the large glass windows and saw Sam scanning the place probably looking for her. He'd must have seen her car and thought she was already inside.

She took a deep breath. "You can do this, Mercedes," she said aloud to herself. She checked her hair and lip gloss in the mirror, grabbed her things, and exited the car.

When she made it inside, she saw Sam sitting at a table alone in a far off corner staring into his coffee cup as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Mercedes chanted in her mind as she made her way over to him, 'Confidence. Strength. Stomach in. Chest out. Shoulders back. Head forward. Eyes fierce. Walls UP.'

When she approached the table, Sam looked up, and a wide smile spread across his face.

_Crack._

"Hey Mercedes! Wow, you looking... amazing!" he exclaimed following by the lick of his lips.

_Crumble._

He rose up out of his chair, to give her a hug. Mercedes stayed silent as he embraced her. Sam tried to discreetly nestle her neck and it did not go unnoticed by her _at all._

_CRASH! _

So much for keeping her walls up. What was it about him that made her senses go into overdrive and her will power go out the window every time he was near? Whatever it was, she knew she needed to rein it in. She still didn't know what he wanted to talk to her about.

Sam apprehensively loosened his hold on her before stepping back and taking a good look at her. He couldn't help but to notice how radiant she looked this morning, any morning. While most girls looked rough in the morning, his favorite pastime was waking up next to and seeing Mercedes in the light of the rising sun. Though it only happened when she came to the Hudson-Hummel's for a sleepover with Kurt and ended up spending the night in Sam's room.

And her ponytail! Was she trying to kill him? She knew what she was doing with the hair, and the lip gloss making her lips look absolutely delicious, and that dress. While Mercedes always opted for jeans or leggings, when she would give Sam the chance to pick her outfit, he always chose a dress. He thought it made her look both sassy and classy, and today was no different. She looked beautiful.

"Sam, are you okay? You're kind of staring," she smirked at him.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'm alright," he stuttered. He hurried to pull out her chair for her to sit down. "You just look very pretty, that's all," he said taking his own seat, and handing her the drink he'd already ordered for her.

"Thanks, Sam." Mercedes held up her cup, "For the drink, and the compliment." She took a sip. "Mmmm. Vanilla almond frappuccino, my favorite."

"With a dollop of caramel," Sam added proudly.

"You remembered?" Mercedes was impressed.

Sam smiled. "Of course I do, Mer-Bear."

Mercedes grimaced and tensed up, and Sam could feel the tension in the atmosphere change and thicken. She pushed her cup away and folded her hands in front of her on the table. "So you said you wanted to talk?" And she was back to being all business again.

"Right," Sam said, getting his bearings. Being so close to her again and enjoying her company almost made him forget why he asked her to come here in the first place. He started, "Well, Mercedes, I know we broke up just months ago, but I'd like to think of us still as good friends."

Mercedes was taken aback. "Excuse me? No offense, Sam, but if you consider me a _'good friend',_" she said using air quotes, "then you aren't a very good friend." She sat back crossing her arms.

Sam frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? You haven't once spoken to me since I've been here and you've had plenty of opportunities to do so."

"Well you haven't spoken to me either," Sam replied defensively.

"Um, NEWSFLASH, Sam! _You're_ the one who called it off with _me_. I was _trying _to give you your space." Mercedes was getting angry now. "Forget it, just, what is it that you want to tell me, or ask me, or whatever?"

Sam look flustered. He knew this wasn't going to be rainbows and sunshine but he didn't it expect it to turn out like this. "Fine I'll spit it out. Before you hear it from anyone else, I just wanted you to know that I'm talking to someone else, and I'm thinking about making it official. I still care about you, and it killed me to hurt you so bad so I wanted to be the one to tell you. You have the right to NOT get blindsided by all the gossip and rumors that will most likely be floating around."

Mercedes was so over this meeting, this conversation, all of it. Emotionally tired, she sighed, "Sam, you can date whoever you want. While I appreciate your odd consideration, I find it pointless. We have no ties and you own me nothing." She got up and gathered her belongings, leaving the coffee behind, and turned and walked away.

"It's Brittany," he called out behind her.

She froze in her tracks. Slowly turning around, she made sure her face was void of any emotion and asked, "Brittany, like Santana's Brittany?"

Sam looked down into his cup and spoke, "Well, no, not since recently when Santana broke up with her. She was sad, and needed a friend, so I was there for her." He looked timidly back up at Mercedes. "And we just sorta got close from there."

_Wow, _was all Mercedes's mind could fathom. Brittany was her friend, but out of all the girls he could have chosen, he chooses the one who didn't learn to tie her shoes until just last year? Did she make him feel smarter and better about himself? Or was it because she was skinny, blonde, and beautiful? Whatever it was, Mercedes decided that if that was what he wanted, good riddens to him. She repeated her chant in her head. Pulling her shoulders back and her head up she spoke, "Well I hope you guys are good for each other." And with that simple statement she turned and left.

When she got her in car, she couldn't get start the engine and get out of there fast enough. It didn't help that she now had these stupid tears impairing her vision. She only made it half up the road when she had to pull in to a laundromat, park the car, and just cry it out.

She had no words or thoughts to express the hurt, the embarrassment, the pain and anguish she was feeling. She was more upset at herself for thinking that maybe, just maybe, Sam might have wanted her back. But she's not what he wants anymore. She's not what anyone wants.

She sat in her car crying into the steering wheel when she heard a tapping on the passenger side window. She turned away quickly and dried her eyes so that she could see who it was. When she turned back around, she saw that it was Mike and unlocked the door for him to get in.

"Mercedes, are you okay? I've been trying to call you and you didn't answer. I had to call your house phone, and that's when your mom told me that you were at the Lima Bean. I was walking on my way there when I spotted your car here with you in it bawling your eyes out. What happened?"

Hanging her head, she muttered, "Sam."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she said looking up at him with tears brimming in her eyes. "He wanted to tell me that he's moved on to someone else. Felt that a face-to-face conversation was necessary for this type of news," she scoffed.

"Oh," was all Mike could say.

"Brittany."

"Whoa." That took Mike by surprise. "I didn't see that coming."

"Really, Mike? 'Cause I did. It was only a matter of time before he went back to dating his perfect Barbie type." She found herself sulking again, and realized that she was tired of getting down on herself. No she's not the Quinn or Brittany type, but she was okay with being the Mercedes type even if some aren't okay with being _with _the Mercedes type. She perked up a little. "But you know what? That's okay, 'cause I'm gonna make it anyway."

"Sorry, Cedes, but Blaine already did that song during Whitney week," Mike teased.

She playfully hit him. "Whitney's so great, her songs deserved to be performed multiple times," she declared.

He laughed. "So why the sudden change in attitude? One minute you're crying, the next you're abusing me with a smile. I'd like to say it had something to do with my presence, but I won't take all the credit," he said wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Well," she said, relaxing in his half embrace, "it's not that I'm still stuck on Sam. I'm just tired of getting passed over for girls like Quinn and Brittany."

"What, like girls who are crazy and bipolar or girls who are less intelligent than rocks?"

"No, girls who are the billboard ad for beauty. But I've come to realize, that I'll never portray that kind of beauty so I have to just embrace my own."

Mike squeezed her shoulder. "And you know what? You're hot!" He paused for effect. "Like a friggin' inferno!"

"Burn, baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn!" They both sang and danced in their seats. "Burn that mother down!"

When they both calmed down from their singing and laughing, he wrapped his arm around her again. "Well I, for one, am glad you are not like Quinn or Brittany."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, "And why is that?"

"Because," Mike began, "you're nicer and more caring than Quinn, and you're obviously smarter and more interesting than Brittany. And," he said wrapping his other arm around her and pulling her closer to him, "you're softer and more huggable than both of them!" He then squeezed her in his arms as tight as he could.

Mercedes couldn't stop laughing despite feeling like she was being squished to death. "MIIIIIKKKKKEEEEE! Let me go! I can't breathe!" she said laughing while trying to catch her breath.

"No, woman, I'm trying to show you lovin'! Now take it!" He squeezed harder.

"Boy if you don't let me go, my fist is gonna show lovin' to your face," she threatened.

Mike immediately let go and slid away, holding up his hands in surrender. "Fine, you win," he gave in. "How about this? I'll drive us back to your house while you do what you do best and sit in the mirror fixing your hair and make-up."

Mercedes glared at him. "I do NOT always sit in the mirror fixing my hair and make-up!" she said in mock anger.

"And what were you doing just now?" he challenged.

Mercedes blushed when she realized that she had just been straightening herself up and fixing herself in the mirror. She conceded, "Fine, you win this time." She opened the door to get out so they could swap seats. When they got back in the car, Mike started the engine, and was about to put the car in drive when Mercedes grabbed and squeezed his hand that was resting on the gear shift. He looked up at her. "Thanks you, Mike."

"For what?" he questioned. "I didn't really do anything."

"You didn't have to." She smiled. "Thanks for just being here. I really appreciate it." She squeezed his hand again before letting go so that he could put the car in gear.

"Anytime, Ms. Jones. Always." He pulled off. "But you wanna know how you can make it up to me?" Mercedes 'Hmm-ed' from the seat beside him. She was already in the mirror reapplying her lip gloss. "By whipping me up some french toast and bacon. All this being an awesome friend has me hungry, and it's still breakfast time."

She smiled at him. "Okay, it's a deal Chang. And while I'm cooking you can tell me what Tina was doing at your house at almost midnight last night."

Mike face-palmed himself, and just shook his head. "Being a crazy ex-girlfriend pretty much sums it up." Mercedes just laughed at that knowing just how crazy Tina could get.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: SO, I envisioned for this chapter to cover up to a certain point in canon but then my imagination got the better of me and... well needless to say, this is what came out. Hope you enjoy! **

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"So you mean to tell me, she was just lying there on your bed when you walked in from your shower _naked_?" Mercedes laughed out loud as she dipped the slices of bread in egg and sprinkled them with cinnamon.

"_Technically_, I wasn't naked. I had underwear and a towel on," Mike corrected, "but essentially, yes. I felt so violated!" Mike sat at the kitchen bar holding himself protectively.

"Shut up! You act like she hasn't seen you without a shirt on before."

"Yeah, but I consented to those times. Major difference." Mike rubbed the back of his neck. "But seriously, from Sam practically undressing you with his eyes one minute, and throwing Brittany in your face the next minute, to Tina stalking me in my room like friggin' Edward Cullen, we got some crazy exes."

Mercedes put the slices of bread on the skillet, and turned towards Mike. "Well, Tina did claim to be a vampire at one point," she smirked.

"Not funny," Mike frowned. "But do you want to know the worse part?" Mercedes eyebrows rose questioningly. "Despite this 'cray-cray Tina', I still kind of miss her," he admitted. "I mean when we danced yesterday, and I held her in my arms, it felt like the good old days when everything was right in the world. Now I'm just confused and possibly insane." Mike rested in his face in hands slumping in his chair.

Mercedes turned around to flip over the now half-cooked french toast, and walked over to sit beside Mike at the bar. She rubbed his back. "You're not insane, Mike. You and Tina went through a lot together and to think that all the feelings would just go away by a simple break up is insane." She moved her hand under his chin to lift his head up. "Maybe it's not Tina, you're missing." He looked at her confused. "Maybe you miss what the two of you used to have.'' She stood up to walk back over to the stove.

He thought on that for a minute. Maybe Mercedes was right. Tina wasn't the same girl he used to know. Yeah, she had had her moments of craziness, but that was used in defense of those she cared about, not against them. She was caring, kind, and considerate, and now she seemed selfish and always lashing out at people. The girl needed a serious attitude makeover. Maybe it _was_ just the memories he missed, because the girl he had made those memories with was no longer here.

"Mercedes?" Mike spoke up.

"Hmm?" She questioned, still facing the stove taking the french toast from the skillet and replacing them with strips of bacon.

"If Sam had asked you to meet him this morning to get back together with you, would you have?"

Mercedes froze for a brief moment before continuing to prepare breakfast. She didn't speak a word as she placed two slices of french toast and three strips of bacon on a plate for Mike and about half of that serving for herself. She went over to the refrigerator and poured a glass of orange juice for Mike and a glass of milk for herself. Still not saying a word, but moving about the kitchen in silence, she grabbed some utensils, a bottle of syrup and a shaker for the powdered sugar.

While most would be worried that maybe Mercedes hadn't heard the question or she was just ignoring it, Mike knew different. Over the last few months, he'd gotten to learn a lot about Miss Mercedes Jones where she proved that everyone is not who they appear to be. While most who didn't know her as well would describe her as flamboyant, loud, rambunctious, and sometimes intimidating, Mike knew different. He'd come to find that Mercedes was kind, generous, dependable, sensitive and she wore her heart on her sleeve. She loved her, and she would do anything for those she cared about. Despite what others thought, when it came to serious matters, she didn't just blurt out whatever popped in her mind first, but she preferred to think it over and come up with intelligent and rational answers or conclusions. This is why he did not feel at all uncomfortable in the silence provided. He respected Mercedes enough to give her a chance to mull over the question and get her thoughts together before she spoke. Mike knew that patience was the key to opening up Mercedes Jones.

She sat the plates down at the breakfast bar, went back and got the drinks and utensils, and then lastly, the syrup and powdered sugar before she sat down next to Mike. He waited for her to sit down before he started to eat. He had already finished one slice of french toast, and half way through his second bacon strip when Mercedes spoke up.

"Honestly," she started, taking a gulp of her milk, "I'm not so sure I would have. Don't get me wrong, Mike, I love Sam without a doubt, but in this circumstance, has anything changed? I'm still in California, and he's still here. I was willing to make things work, to stick it out despite how hard it would be, but he was too afraid. Afraid of not being able to handle the distance and time apart from each other. Afraid that my dreams are too big for him and that I'd leave him behind. And I never told you this Mike, but he was afraid that I'd move out there and find someone else better than him. I believe his words were 'find someone who is truly worthy of all of who I am'," she scoffed. "And all that stemmed from a lack of trust. Trust in me and trust in the love we shared." She looked Mike straight in the eye. "And how do you be with someone who doubts you and all that you had together when you've never given him a reason to? If he doesn't trust me or the love I have for him, then what's the point?"

"I guess there is no point," Mike answered her rhetorical question.

"Exactly," she simply stated as she rose to put her plate, glass, and utensils in the sink. She turned to face Mike still sitting at the bar, mouth full of food, but his eyes never leaving her. "And if I'm being completely honest Mike, I'm glad that he didn't ask to reconcile our relationship." Mike's eyebrows rose in the only response he could convey at the moment. She answered his unasked questioned, "Because I don't think I would have been strong enough to tell him no." She looked down as if she were ashamed. Moments later, her head snapped up with a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But hey, enough with all the ex talk. How about we pop in a movie to watch?"

Mike, chewing his last bite, gulped the rest of his orange juice down. "Like what?"

Mercedes thought it over while noticing the mess she made of herself while cooking. Luckily, she had changed out of her sundress and into some sweats and a tee shirt. She was a good cook, but she couldn't keep the ingredients off of herself as well. _I may have to invest in an apron, _she thought before she returned to the conversation with Mike. "Hmm... something with lots of music!" she exclaimed.

Mike stood up from his place. "As long as it's not Grease, I'm fine with whatever you pick," he said putting the remaining two slices of french toast and bacon onto his plate."

"Ooo, how about we watch _Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella_! I love Brandy and Whitney in that movie, and I haven't watched it in a while." Mike saw that Mercedes eyes were brighter at the mention of her idol Whitney, as she grabbed his glass to refill it with juice.

He smiled at her enthusiasm. "That's not the reason you want to watch the movie." He teased, "You like that movie because the main couple is an Asian man and a Black woman."

She handed him his juice. "Well, Chang, that's just merely a coincidence," she smirked. "So, you stay here and finish off your second helping of food, and I'll run upstairs, change out of these egg-and-cinnamon-clad clothes, grab the DVD and meet you in the movie room. Deal?"

"Mmhmm," Mike grumbled around his mouth full of food as he watched Mercedes make her way out of the kitchen to head upstairs to her room.

Mike finished off his food, practically licking the plate clean. Mercedes was probably the best cook he'd encountered, after his mom, of course, but that was because she was able to authentically make all of his favorite Chinese dishes. But he'd bet, that if taught and given the chance, Mercedes could take the title. He took his dishes to the sink, and figured he could wash the few dishes they'd used as thanks for the amazing meal he'd just scarfed down. After he finished the dishes and wiping down the countertops and bar, he cut off the kitchen light and made his way down to the movie room, which was essentially in the basement, along with the arcade room that housed a pool table, a hockey table, and a foosball table amongst other games, and a karaoke room that had a stage in it that was similar to that of Rachel Berry's. He enjoyed coming to Mercedes's house because there was always something to do. He'd wondered why she never hosted glee club parties here. It would have been a hit. Her answer to that had been, "So they can trash and dash leaving me to clean up like they did Rachel? No thanks, I'll pass!" But that didn't stop the table hockey tournaments between Mike, Tina, Sam, and Mercedes, or the Battle of the Sexes foosball games where nine times out of ten, the boys got creamed. Mike smiled at the memories and realized how so much had changed in just the past few months.

Mike had finally reached the movie room at the end of the hall. He walked in and turned on the light to the room. The Joneses were modest calling it a movie room, when it should have been called a home theater. In the front of the large room was an 11-foot screen and in the middle of the ceiling hung the projector. There were three levels to the room. On the floor and middle levels were the two rows of large dark brown leather recliner chairs with mobile armrests with cup-holders; five seats on each row. On the third level furthest to the back of the room held two custom-made D-Box seats. Mercedes said they were Christmas gifts from the previous year for her and her brother. Hers was black with lined with purple and the middle section of the seat and back was zebra-print. Her brother Marcus's was simply navy blue lined in silver. This past summer, Mercedes let him and Sam try them out watching the fifth Fast and Furious movie. He loved it remembering how it felt like he was in the movie himself. He knew from that moment on, watching a movie in regular boring old seats would never compare. Off to the side in the back was a popcorn maker. No home theater was complete without its very own popcorn maker. All along the back wall were shelves filled to the brim with movies on blu-ray, DVD, and, yes, VHS. The filled shelves reached the ceiling so it was only fitting that they had a rolling ladder like the ones in the library just a bit shorter. It seemed as if you could find any movie known to man in here, well perhaps not _Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella_, which, apparently, Mercedes must keep hidden in her room.

At that moment, Mike realized that Mercedes was taking a long time to change and grab the movie, even for her standards. He made his was back up the stairs to the first floor when he heard music coming from the second floor upstairs. "Mercedes!" he called, but she probably couldn't hear him over the loud music, so he made his way upstairs to see what was holding her.

When he made it to her room, he raised his fist to knock when he realized the door was already slightly open. He peered inside her room and spotted her dancing, swaying her hips from side to the side to the music that seemed to be now blasting at this close proximity.

**_I don't wanna be... _**

**_Be without you, be without you_**

**_I don't wanna live..._**

**_Live without you, live without you_**

**_I don't wanna go..._**

**_Go without you, go without you_**

**_I don't wanna be alone_**

Mike didn't feel bad to be watching her dance without her consent, shameful enough. He felt bad because she was only wearing a low cut tank top and lace-trimmed boy shorts. He felt worse, because he had no intention of looking away. _Oh man, I am such a creeper. _But he couldn't look away if he tried because it was as if her hips had him in a trance. He had always made offhanded comments about admiring her backside, but that was such an understatement now. Hell, he wanted to _worship _it! He knew he shouldn't be thinking about his friend in that manner, especially since he was still trying to figure out his feelings for Tina, but she was making it hard for him. She turned around, and thinking he was about to get caught being a peeping tom, he noticed that her eyes were closed as she got lost in the music. That's when he tried to recognize the song she was listening too.

**_When we hooked up we sat down_**

**_Made an agreement, we vowed that_**

**_That we'd always be together through whatever_**

**_We said that no one would ever get between us_**

**_This love would never ever leave us_**

**_That was a while ago_**

**_But now lately it feels like_**

**_I mean I feel like all we do is fight_**

**_Every single night _**

**_Can't make it tight, can't get it right_**

**_I just wanna go back, take it way back_**

**_All the way back, can we start again_**

**_Do it over, can we straighten it out_**

**_Can we work it out, cause_**

**_I don't wanna be... _**

**_Be without you, be without you_**

Mike felt his whole body heat up as she started to run her hands through her long curly locks that were no longer tied up in a ponytail. He felt like such a hypocrite for calling Sam out for undressing Mercedes with his eyes and Tina out for stalking him in his room, when he was essentially doing the same thing to Mercedes. That's when she turned around again and he noticed the glistening on her cheeks from the tears that were streaming from her still shut eyes. She was singing along to the words now.

**_I don't wanna live..._**

**_Live without you, live without you_**

**_I don't wanna go..._**

**_Go without you, go without you_**

**_I don't wanna be alone_**

Mike could literally feel his heart breaking, piece by shattered piece with every word she sung. He knew he had to make his presence known; he had to come out from hiding in the shadows, literally and figuratively. He was no longer going to let her suffer alone.

Mike slowly opened the door to her room, and quietly walked over to where she was singing and swaying to the music, as not to startle her. She still hadn't realized he was occupying the space with her when he walked by her laptop and noticed the song that was playing from a movie soundtrack. At that moment, Mercedes was stepping his way and bumped into him startling them both.

She jumped and gasped. "Mike! What are you doing here? And how long have you been standing there?" she interrogated while swiping at the tears on her face, trying to get her breathing and heart rate under control.

Mike ignored her question and looked at the computer screen. She followed his line of vision questioningly. "This song is from the _Romeo Must Die_ soundtrack," he stated matter-of-factly.

Mercedes's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, and?"

Mike smirked. "Another movie where the Asian guy falls for the beautiful Black girl. Coincidence? I think not," he said smugly.

She placed her hands on her hips. "Well it _is_ a coincidence," she said in a huff. She then looked down at her current state of dress and realized that she was standing in front of Mike in her underwear. She took a step back and tried to cover herself as much as possible with her arms.

Mike took a step forward, grabbing her hand. "You don't have to run from me, Cedes," he spoke gently. Raking over her body with his eyes, he added, "and if I haven't told you before, I love the way you look in the color purple," referring to the pair of purple lace-trimmed boy shorts she was wearing.

Mike didn't know where he was getting the confidence to lay it on like this with a girl he regarded as his best friend, but at this moment, he regretted nothing, only that he hadn't seen her like this sooner. She was still stunned by his last statement when he asked her, "Dance with me?"

She didn't have to say a word, but she responded with a smile indicating a yes. He spun her around until her backside was flush against his front. He placed his hand on her hips to move them in time to the music with his own.

**_I can't sleep without you, think without you_**

**_Eat without you, speak without you, be without you_**

**_I can't even breathe without you..._**

Mike placed the smallest of kisses on her shoulder. Mercedes may not have noticed had her senses not been in hyper drive.

**_I can't feel without you, deal without you, spend without you_**

**_My whole world is upside down..._**

**_Don't wanna go out cause I can't ride without you_**

**_Feelin like I'm gon' die without you_**

Starting from her mid thigh, Mike ran his hands up the sides of her body stopping and cupping the sides of her breasts.

**_What is a girl supposed to do?_**

**_When I spend my last dime to be in your life_**

**_I don't wanna be without you_**

She raised both her arms in the air, and he ran his hands up the length of her arms until he reached her hands. With one hand he held her hands above head, and with the other he placed across her midsection, grinding into her. He smiled to himself when he elicited a deep moan from her.

**_Said I can't be... _**

**_Be without you, be without you_**

**_Said I can't live..._**

**_Live without you, live without you_**

**_I don't wanna go..._**

**_Go without you, go without you_**

**_Said I don't wanna be alone_**

He didn't know what was going through Mercedes's mind, but he did know that she wasn't fighting him off. He decided to just lay it all out there. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Cedes, you don't ever have to be alone when you have me." At that she let her head fall back onto his shoulder and ground her bottom into him. Mike knew he was about to lose it, so he quickly turned her around, and brought her body back to his facing him. She looked up at him with lustful eyes. _It's now or never, Mike, _he told himself. He cupped her face, and as he bent down towards her, his eyes began to shut, their lips only millimeters apart, he felt her body stiffen in his arms.

"Tina!" Mercedes blurted out.

Mike's eyes shot open. "What?"

Mercedes released herself from Mike's hold, grabbed her robe, and pulled it tight around her. "Tina, Mike." Mercedes walked over to turn the music off on her laptop.

Mike couldn't hide the confusion, nor the frustration in his voice. He ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah, so? What about her?"

Mercedes went to take a seat on the end of her bed. "I think... I think you should give it another chance with her," she said while playing with her hands nervously.

Mike didn't know what the hell just happened. First they were dancing, then they were about to share a kiss, and now she was encouraging him to get back with his ex?! In utter disbelief, but still trying to contain his composure, he blurted, "COME AGAIN?!"

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**AN: I know it's a bit of a cliff hanger, but I had to stop it here. As you can see, this chapter was more from Mike's perspective. Next time, we'll see what's going on in Mercedes's head. Also thanks so much for the follows, the faves, and the reviews. Special S/Os to krazykay23 and Alliecattie3 for your enthusiastic reviews! Such great motivation! So please everyone review, review, review, or Karofsky and Azimio are gonna creep into your rooms tonight and slushie you while you're sleeping! BAHAHA! j/k =]**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thanks again for all the reviews and faves! It means the world. Sorry this update took longer, but between working full time, grad school, being a newlywed (wink!), and reading and writing fanfics, I'm pooped! So thanks for bearing with me. Also the song from the last chapter was ****_I Don't Wanna_**** by Aaliyah. Well you guys have waited long enough, so without further ado...**

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_Mercedes went to take a seat on the end of her bed. "I think... I think you should give it another chance with her," she said while playing with her hands nervously._

_Mike didn't know what the hell just happened. First they were dancing, then they were about to share a kiss, and now she was encouraging him to get back with his ex?! In utter disbelief, but still trying to contain his composure, he blurted, "COME AGAIN?!"_

Mercedes knew she was wrong to play the Tina card as a cop-out but it was all she had in her hand to play. This was too much too soon, and she let herself get lost in the moment. Last time she let that happen, she found herself cheating on Shane by kissing Sam, and even though it all worked out in the end, it killed her to know that she lost control enough to hurt someone she cared for. In this situation, she had so much to lose: her best friend, her confidant, her rock. They were still healing from their past relationships and in no condition to jump into another.

Mercedes needed to think, and she couldn't do that with Mike staring at her with scrutinizing eyes. While she would hate herself for it later, she knew she had to put her walls up. She got defensive. "I _said_, you should make up with her. You're obviously not over her." She folded her arms in front of her.

Mike was flabbergasted. "And how, exactly, is that so obvious? He spoke softer, taking a step towards her, "Do you not realize what was about to happen?"

Why was he making this so hard? Mercedes quickly stood and made distance in between them. "I do realize, and I'm no one's rebound Mike," she stated firmly. "I...I think you should leave now," she added a little more hesitant.

Recognition dawned on Mike's features. "I know what you're doing, Cedes, and you don't have to shut me out. I'm still Mike&Ike—" Mercedes had to keep herself from smiling at the nickname she'd given him when he had once teased her calling her TaterTot; they had become terms of endearment. "—and you can still talk to me. About anything," he pleaded.

Mercedes hated to hear the desperation in his voice, but this was all too much and she wasn't ready for this just yet. So she told him so. He deserved that much at the least. She looked down, not brave enough too look into his eyes which would sure to be showing hurt in them when she was through saying what she had to say. "I'm sorry Mike, but this is too much and I'm just not ready for this. I really would like to be alone right now. I need time to clear my mind and really think everything over, and I know it's going to take longer than the usual five to ten minutes." She walked past him to the doorway of her room. "I'll walk you to the door."

She heard him sigh as she made her way to the exit, Mike in tow following behind her. When she made it to the front door, she opened it still avoiding eye contact, and he stepped out. He turned around to hug her and say goodbye, but when he did, she spoke first.

"I'll see later at the musical tonight. Bye, Mike." And with that, she shut the door not allowing him to say a word. She couldn't risk it. She knew it wasn't nice to kick out your best friend and practically shut the door in his face, but she was already screwed in the head, and she didn't need him saying anything else to add to the already brewing turmoil taking place inside of her.

Mercedes walked back into the living room and flopped down on the couch. She was grateful to have the house all to herself. Both her parents were at work, and her brother was away at college. That just left her and her musings.

_What the hell just happened?!_ she asked herself. First, they were just talking while she cooked them both breakfast, then Mike had to go and ask her about Sam causing her to get all up in her feelings. While she tried to put on a brave face, changing the subject to movie watching, she was still shaken up a bit that she needed to be alone to get herself together. That, and change out of those clothes. She'd turned on her Pandora Radio station to play some music while she got dressed. The first song to come on was _Always Be My Baby_ by Mariah Carey, and she knew she was royally screwed. If she wasn't already feeling like an emotional wreck, now she was crashing and burning. While she loved Mariah and the song, she needed to pass on it for the time being. A little commercial came on, so while waiting for the next song to play, she had already discarded her previous garments and slipped on a tank. She was still in her underwear, rummaging through her drawers to look for a pair of her brother's old basketball shorts she'd stolen from him, when a familiar song came. She decided to try and guess the song instead of sneaking a peek at her computer screen. Distracted from finding the shorts to clothe her half-dressed body, she begin to sway and dance to the music trying place the song. Mercedes was certain she knew it, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, at least not until the chorus.

That's when the words hit her like a ton of bricks, and she couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. So she let herself go as she sang along to the song. She cried for herself, she cried for Mike, she cried for her lost love with Sam. She cried for their past with each other, and their futures without each other. She cried because she was tired of crying. As she sang and danced, she vowed to herself that she wasn't going to cry over this anymore. She would smile because God allowed her to experience love from a great guy. She would smile because that guy helped her to reach her dreams. She would smile because despite how much it hurt to not be together, she knew that her future was full of promise with or without him. And she smiled because she had a new best friend to make new memories with, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

With her eyes closed, she continued to dance to the song when she was abruptly brought back down to earth bumping into Mike. She had been so frightened and then annoyed, that she didn't even realize that she was standing in front of her best friend in her underwear. But it was the look in Mike's eyes that had caused the atmosphere to change. It was want, it was desire, it was pure and unadulterated lust. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in the way he moved against her, and hear it in the panting of his breaths.

Did she want him too? Was a moment of pleasure worth possibly ruining a friendship over? She couldn't answer those questions, so she had stop him from kissing her. As much as she wanted to feel his lips on hers, she couldn't be so selfish. She didn't know if that's what she wanted from Mike and she knew her indecisiveness would only add to the problem, and that wasn't fair to him.

Mercedes awoke to the sound of her text message ringtone, and didn't realize she had fallen asleep on the couch still in her robe. She searched around for her phone, and read the text message.

**_DIVA! Made it into town and can't wait to see you tonight at the musical! Fabulously, Kurt_**

She texted back her mutual response and checked the time on her phone. _4:30!? s_he exclaimed to herself. _I gotta get ready or I'll be late for pre-show warm-ups!_

She jumped up, making her way back upstairs, wondering how she slept her entire day away. She knew she would have to deal with this Mike situation sooner or later, but she decided to push it to the back of her mind. She had a show to get ready for.

* * *

Mercedes was just coming in from shopping when she felt her phone vibrating in her bag. She placed her bags down by the front door of her small apartment, and began to sift through her purse for her phone. When she finally picked up, she smiled and rolled her eyes at the familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Sup, Mama?"

"What is it, Puck?" she asked playfully.

"Now is that how you greet your favorite mohawked stud? I was just calling to make sure you'll be going home for Thanksgiving, like we all promised. And..." Puck trailed off.

"And?" Mercedes urged, as she placed the phone between her ear and shoulder to free both hands. She picked up her shopping bags, took them to her room, and emptied the contents onto her bed to sort and put away.

"Well I was hoping I could catch a ride with you."

"I was actually planning on flying, but I guess we can make it a road tri–"

"And..." Puck interrupted.

Mercedes sighed. "And, what, Puck?"

Puck took a deep breath before quickly asking, "Can I bum it at your place until then? Please? Pretty please!"

"What!?" Mercedes blurted. "Are you kidding me right now, Puck? That's a whole three weeks away! Wait," she paused, "what happened to your place?" she asked skeptically.

"Well the husband of one the cougars whose pool I clean, caught us fooling around. And to make a long story short, he found out where I lived, so I need to get lost for a while."

Mercedes covered her face with her hand, and groaned in exasperation. "Noah, you have got to do better. We're not in high school anymore."

Puck sighed at the disappointed use of his first name. "I know, Mama. It's just so hard to resist when all the ladies are so eager to pucker up to the Puckerman. So," he started more timidly, "can I... stay with you?"

She knew she couldn't leave him hanging, but she knew better than to let him run amuck. "Fine, Puck," she gave in, "you can stay with me ONLY until we leave for Thanksgiving break. And there will be ground rules."

"I'm all ears," Puck stated all too happy that he didn't have to resort to desperate measures that would probably keep him up at night.

Mercedes continued, "You'll be sleeping on the couch. No girls, no parties, no booze. You use it or eat it, you replace it. You mess it up, you clean it up. Absolutely NO angry husbands, and respect my space and I'll respect yours. Also, what happens at this apartment stays at this apartment."

"Okay, Ms. Jones, I see you like to get kinky," Puck teased.

"While that is _not_ the case, what that statement means is that even if I did, that's no one else's business but my own. I'm a pretty private person, and I'd like to keep in that way, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" he piped up in response. "So is it okay if I come over now?"

"That's fine, Puck. I'll leave the door unlocked for you. I have to get started on this paper for my history class, so I'll see you when you get here."

"Alright. See you later."

"You too," she replied ending the call. After all of the items she bought were put away she sat at her desk and opened up her laptop. Waiting for it to boot up, all she could do was sit and think of how the heck she got herself in this mess. She pretty much signed up to be Puck's babysitter free of charge. She wanted to call Mike and vent it out to him, but things were still strained between the two of them, and she knew she only had herself to blame. She didn't really call him or answer his calls and texts, but when she did it was brief and impersonal. He would call, and she would give some sort of excuse as to why she couldn't talk to him because she was so busy, or he would text to see how she was doing, and she would respond with a simple "good" or "okay." All of the evasiveness due to her embarrassment.

She was embarrassed that she freaked out over the would've-been kiss and that she kicked her best friend out, but not before ill-advising him to hook back up with his ex. She was embarrassed that she avoided him the entire night of the musical, and he knew why. And she was embarrassed that when she saw him and Tina hugging that night, a wave a jealousy surged through her when she had no right to feel that way. But mostly she was embarrassed that she went from pining over Sam to pining over yet another guy. She didn't want to be that kind of girl, and she was ashamed to think she had become that.

Once her computer desktop was loaded, she decided to get her daily dose of Facebook in before she started her paper. She was scrolling down her newsfeed when a picture caught her eye. It was posted by Tina of her and Mike. Mercedes assumed it was after the play since Tina still had on her Pink Ladies jacket. But that alone wasn't what made Mercedes feel like banging her head against the wall, it was the caption underneath the picture that read, _"If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, then you know it's yours. I love you, Mike."_

Mercedes closed her laptop and shook her head in utter disbelief. This could not be happening. How stupid could she have been to practically shove Mike back into Tina's arms? Now she didn't have a man or a best friend.

"Honey, I'm home!" she suddenly heard bellowed from the front door. _Puck._

All she had now was a man-boy to mooch off of her. Fan-freakin'-tastic.

* * *

Mercedes and Puck sat in the living room watching _Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End_, while he ate out of a family size back of Doritos and she filled her mouth with spoonfuls of cookies and cream ice cream. They were sprawled out on the couch with Mercedes legs draped across Puck's lap. Over the past few weeks they had become surprisingly comfortable around each other, and she'd even admit that he was somewhat tolerable whenever he wasn't trying to walk around in the nude. Unfortunately she saw more of Puck than she wanted to see.

It was the day before they were supposed to start their road trip back to Lima, so they thought they'd enjoy their last moments as roommates with a care-free day of a _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movie marathon.

"This part is so romantic." Mercedes swooned at the screen.

Puck scoffed. "You call it romantic. I call it bad-ass! Pretty awesome getting married on a pirate ship with everyone fighting to the death around you. When the time comes, I might consider doing that myself." He stated around a mouth full of chips.

She rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot, you know that?" she laughed.

He slapped her hip playfully. "But I'm your idiot."

"Nope, I hold no claims to you... THANKFULLY!" she giggled. At that moment, her phone sitting on the coffee table began to ring. Puck leaned over and grabbed it before she could. "Who is it?" she asked him, taking one of his Doritos and dipping it into her ice cream.

"First of all, that's gross," he replied grimacing at her putting the ice cream-covered chip in her mouth. "Second, who do you think it is?"

She grabbed her phone and saw that it was Mike calling... AGAIN. She answered the phone. "Hey Mike, can I talk to you later? A friend and I are in the middle of watching a movie."

"Uh, y-yeah. Guess I'll see you during the break?" he questioned over the line.

"Yeah, sure. Later," Mercedes quickly responded and hung up the phone placing it back on the coffee table and turning her attention back to the movie. She felt Puck's gaze burning a hole in the side of her head. "Yes, Puck?"

"What's up with you and Chang? I mean he calls, and you dodge him. He texts and you pretty much ignore him. And you make sure to keep from him the fact that I've been staying here with you. Is something going on between you two?"

Mercedes sighed deeply. "No, nothing is going on between us."

"Obviously," he muttered sarcastically.

Mercedes glared at him. "We are _just_ friends. He is back with Tina and happy I presume, while I, on the other hand, am housing a bum."

"Hey!" he retorted, throwing a chip at her. "I think I've graduated from bum to house guest. I've been a good boy." He frowned at her.

She laughed out loud at the pitiful look on his face. "I'll admit, that, you have, little Puckerman, that, you have. But pertaining to the Mike situation, which by the way stays between you, me, and this apartment as per the rules, there could have been something there, but I messed up." She dropped her gaze to the melting ice cream she held in her lap.

He lifted her chin with his finger. "I say this with utmost respect, Mama, but _suck_ _it_ _up_! Crap happens. So you screwed up. Follow your own rules..."

Mercedes looked up at him in shock not believing he was speaking to her like that.

Puck finished, "'You mess it up, you clean it up.' Guess you got some cleaning to do." And with that he turned toward the TV to the movie that was now close to ending.

She just stared at him in awe. What did she expect? For him to feel sorry for her? Why should he? It was all on her, so she took heed to his advice and sucked it up. When she got back to Lima, she could work on damage control, but right now they had one more movie to watch, and she intended on enjoying it with her friend and soon-to-be ex-roommate.

* * *

Mercedes and Puck pulled into the school parking lot. It was pretty much empty save for a few cars probably belonging to teachers still lingering on campus after school hours. Mercedes parked the car and shut off the engine. She took a deep breath, turned to Puck and smiled.

He chuckled. "That's a nervous smile if I ever saw one. Let's go, silly girl."

She frowned, but checked herself in the mirror before exiting the car. "So," she started as they made their way towards the building, "what's the plan, anyways?"

"Well I spoke to Finn, and we're pretty much all gonna meet up in the auditorium and decide what we're gonna do from there." He opened the door to let her walk ahead of him.

"Okay that's cool," she said wringing her hands nervously.

Puck stopped her, grabbed her arms and turned her towards him. "Look, you need to pull it together. If he's _just_ your friend like you say he is, then this is no big deal. Friends forgive and make up because that's just what friends do. So go to the bathroom and get yourself together, and I'll meet you in the auditorium."

She gave him a genuine smile, hugged him, silently thanking him for his tough love, and rushed off towards the girl's bathroom. Once she finished making sure she was put together, she made her way to where her friends were sure to be waiting for her. When she neared the door to the auditorium, she heard singing and music playing, and she knew, in true Glee Club fashion, a song was in order for their little reunion. She walked in adding her part to the song and hugging Santana. She was second guessing whether she should hug Mike, when she looked up on stage and saw Puck give her a look, so she gave her friend a hug and was surprised at how much he squeezed back. He missed her, and if she knew Mike like she thought she did, though he was hiding it behind a smile, he was hurt, and it was all her fault.

After the song was over, the friends decided to head over to breadsticks and catch up over dinner. Everything was going smoothly, though Mercedes made sure not to end up sitting next to Mike just yet, until Finn asked the group if they would be mentors to the newcomers of glee for the upcoming Sectionals competition.

Finn explained, "Quinn, I'll pair you up with Kitty, Mike with Ryder, Santana with Marley, Mercedes with Wade, and Puck, you'll be with-"

"-The little bro," he finished. "That's good 'cause I think he has a lot to learn from the older Puckasaurus here."

"I don't know, Puck. You didn't see him during the Grease musical. Little Jake has got some moves. You could probably learn a thing or two from him," Mercedes smirked.

Everyone 'Ooooh'ed and laughed at his expense, but Puck didn't take lightly to being the butt of anyone's joke. He smiled smugly at Mercedes before saying, "Well, Mama, I didn't hear you complaining these last three weeks."

Mercedes jaw dropped in shock. Santana looked between the two of them. "Uh-oh! What's been going on the last three weeks?"

Mercedes saw Puck open his mouth to answer. "PUCK...!" Mercedes warned.

But he ignored her. "Oh, nothing much. Just that we've been living together," he stated nonchalantly as he twirled his straw around in his now empty glass.

"Wanky," Santana slipped in, right as Mike coughed choking on his drink, and Finn's eyes practically popped out of his head.

Puck continued, "Yeah, who do you think made me ditch the mohawk? Said it'd make me look more—what's the word you used, Mama? Oh right! _Distinguished_," he stated proudly.

Quinn looked over and saw Mercedes with her face in her hands. She and Mercedes were nowhere near as close as they were when she moved in with Mercedes and her family during her pregnancy, but she knew that her old friend was completely mortified, so she decided to defuse the situation. "Alright! Dinner's over, everyone. I have to get going," she announced shooing everyone out of the booth so she could out.

Mercedes caught her eye and mouthed a silent '_Thank _you' and Quinn responded with a smile and a wink.

They had already paid the bill earlier so everyone was heading out the door, when Santana asked, "Hey Boy-Chang, were you still needing me to drive you back home?"

"No, Mercedes is going to take me home," he said staring at Mercedes. Mercedes looked up at him confused but didn't say anything, surprised that he volunteered her services without her consent. She saw his jaw clench and knew that he wasn't a happy camper, so she just nodded and made her way to the car.

"O...Kay, then I guess I'll see you guys later," Santana responded looking between the two again.

"Hey Satan, I'll take that ride!" was the last thing Mercedes heard as she climbed into her car and shut the door. She looked up and saw Puck mouthing '_I'm _sorry' to her before hopping in with Santana and driving off.

Once hearing Mike move into the passenger seat and close the door, she fumbled through her purse looking for her keys. She could feel him looking at her but she avoided eye contact too afraid to see the angry look on his face. She found her keys, put them in the ignition, and was about to start the car when Mike's hand reached over and halted her actions.

When she finally got up the nerve to look at him, what she saw was worse than anger; it was hurt.

"Mercedes, we need to talk."

* * *

**Another cliff-hanger, I know. Don't be too mad at me. =] Hope you like it though! Read and put your friends on it, OH and review, review, review, or Rachel will trick you into going to a crack house! j/k =]**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Without further ado... the conversation... dun dun DUN!**_

* * *

Mercedes took the key out of the ignition, placing it in her lap, she turned in her seat to face Mike. "Okay, so talk."

"So I see you replaced me with Puck," Mike stated accusingly. "Why didn't you tell me that he was staying with you? Why did you feel the need to keep that from me?"

"I could say the same thing about you and Tina," Mercedes bit back.

"As if you gave me the chance! You've been downright avoiding me, Mercedes!" he exclaimed throwing his hands in the air.

Mercedes opened her mouth to respond, but knew that he was right. He wasn't hiding from her; she was the one hiding. She snapped her mouth shut, and sighed.

Mike spoke more softly. "I'm sorry, Cedes, for trying to kiss you and putting you in that position in the first place. It was out of line, and I'm sorry that it made you feel uncomfortable. I got caught up in the moment and I... I... I hate not speaking to you." He took hold of her hand, "I've missed you so much."

She squeezed his hand back. "I'm sorry too, Mike. I should not have dodged you like that, but I was so shaken up, and I was scared, and I don't want to lose you, and then you and Tina, and..."

"Mercedes, you're rambling," Mike chuckled.

She sighed and smiled. "I know, I just can't get my thoughts together. But one thing I do know for sure," she said grabbing his other hand, "I have missed you so much, probably more than I should have, but you're my best friend and I haven't been a good one to you."

Mike was silent for a moment looking down at their joined hands as he played with her fingers. "Mercedes, can you answer something truthfully for me? Best friend to best friend?" he tacked on.

Mercedes was hesitant, but she owed Mike at least this much. "Sure."

"What did you feel between us that day in your room?"

This was the question she was most dreading, because she hadn't been able to admit her feelings to herself let alone to anyone else. Guess it was now or never, she couldn't turn back now. "I g-guess," she stuttered out, "I felt something _more_. Something new and potentially exciting, Mike. Honestly, I felt something that shouldn't be between two _friends_," she emphasized.

"Maybe, a feeling like that happens when two people are meant to be more than just friends," Mike theorized.

Mercedes tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "Well I guess it's a good thing we didn't act on those feelings. I knew there was still more between you and Tina," she said behind a fake smile.

Sitting back in his seat, Mike groaned at that. "The only thing between me and Tina is space." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll admit I tried to mend ties with her and see if it was worth a second chance. She told me the opening night of the musical that our breakup may have been premature, but these last few weeks have been... Ugh!" he exclaimed frustratingly. "She's just not the same girl I fell in love with. She's always got an attitude, always acting suspicious of me, and just plain mean! If this was the person that was certain to eventually rear her head, not only was our breakup NOT premature, but I'd say it was well overdue."

"Wow. I'm really sorry to hear that Mike. I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you two."

He scoffed. "Are you really, Cedes? I mean, are you actually sorry that we aren't together? Because, frankly, I'm not."

Mercedes averted her eyes away from her friend. "Honestly? Tina's my friend, well was anyways, but from what I hearing, I think you could do better, Mike," she admitted.

"I guess if I'm being truthful, I'm partly to blame for our second failed attempt," he confessed. That caught Mercedes's attention, and she looked up in question as if to ask 'how so?' Mike answered her unasked question, "Because, my heart wasn't truly in it. When I was talking to her I was thinking of someone else, and when I was Skyping with her, I was wishing it was someone else's face I was looking at."

"Mike, please..." she quietly begged.

"I'm sorry, Mercedes. I shouldn't have said that. You would have thought I would have learned my lesson the first time," he chuckled humorlessly. "I guess when I'm around you, I'm used to having no reservations, not having to hold back anything with you, and just laying it all out on the table."

Mercedes felt guilty now. She wanted to be there for Mike like old times. She wanted to comfort him, and support him, and soundly advise him about circumstances that arise for him. But how could she do that when _she_ was the circumstance? She couldn't offer an unbiased opinion that wouldn't either hurt his feelings or make her feel pressured. When had things gotten so complicated? Before she was able to respond to him, he was already speaking again.

Chewing on his lower lip, he asked, "So, you and Puck, huh?"

Mercedes was abruptly woken up from her musings. "What!? No! That is not _at_ _all_ what you think," she explained. She figured this was a lot easier to talk about than their limbo relationship between lovers and friends. "He'd gotten himself into a bit of bind and needed a place to kick it for a while, so with _much_ hesitation I agreed to let him stay with me up until we got back to Lima for this break."

Mike chuckled a little, "Sounds like typical Puck always in trouble." Mike sat back in his seat, placing both hands behind his head, and closing his eyes feigning relaxation. "Well I'm glad you had someone there to comfort you while you dealt with my little slip up," he stated with false nonchalance.

Mercedes could see right through his little facade, and decided to amuse him. "I'll say!" she said leaning back in her own seat. "The late night talks were so helpful, along with the massages shared between friends to ease the tension. And even though I refused to at first, I eventually relented and let him snuggle up to me in my bed at night. It made me feel safe which I definitely needed."

Mike sat straight up, eyes bugged out of his head. "YOU LET HIM WHAT!?"

Mercedes smiled, "Gotcha!" She saw the frown displayed on his face and laughed out loud.

"That was cruel, Jones. Downright evil," Mike huffed crossing his arms in front of his chest still frowning.

Mercedes couldn't stop as she held onto her sides letting the laughter pour out. "You're the one... who was acting... like it was no... big deal!" she managed to get out through her giggling fit. She finally was able to calm down a bit. "You shouldn't ask questions you really don't want to know the answers to, Chang. But if you _must_ know," she teased, "None of that took place, well except for the late night talks when I was up late studying and he insisted on bugging me with some theories about video games. Other than that, everything was rated PG or lower." she could see Mike relax at that. "And as far as 'comforting me,' Puck _ain't_ the one. I didn't really share with him my personal life. As you know, I prefer to keep my private life private. But after the last time you had called me, he suspected something, so without going into any detail, I just stated that there was an issue. He pretty much just told me to grow some balls and man up. And that summed that up."

Mike let out a ragged breath, and smiled. "I'm not going to lie, Cedes. I'm so happy to know that I didn't get replaced by Puck. Don't get me wrong, that's my bro, but we all know he could be a total douche. It would suck to know that he's a better friend to you than I am."

Mercedes genuinely smiled at him. "No one could replace you, Mike&Ike. I was killing myself not talking to you, and I don't plan to do that again." She offered him her pinky.

He smiled and took it saying, "And I don't plan to make you do that again. I won't pressure you about it. I'll just let you come to me when you're ready. Friends, TaterTot?"

Mercedes looked down at their link fingers. She already knew what she wanted, but was it what she needed? She dodged a huge bullet going all incognito and pushing her best friend away. She could have lost someone she truly cared about. Now she was just hoping that everything went back to the way it was before all of this confusion took place. But deep down inside, she could already sense her feelings shifting and changing and knew that things, in fact, were not going to go back to the way they were. But for now, she could pretend.

Mercedes looked up at a grinning Mike and smiled. "The best."

* * *

"Mercedes, I'll be back in a couple of hours. When I get back, I'll do you hair. Just make sure you finish taking it out because I don't plan on staying up late." Patrice Jones said to her daughter who was sitting in the living room in front on the T.V. taking out her current weave. "If it's not out and washed before I come back, then you'll just be looking like Raggedy Ann come Thanksgiving Day. Understand, young lady?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Mercedes answered back. There was no way she was going to walk around looking a hot mess. "Hey, when is Daddy gonna be home?" Her dad had been away at some dentist convention and was due to be home before thanksgiving.

Her mother grabbed her purse and keys hanging up by the door. "Later on tonight. He's going to wait on your brother's flight at the airport, and they're going to leave from there together."

Mercedes smiled, she couldn't wait to see her brother. While they fought nonstop growing up, the older they got, the closer they became. "I can't wait to see Marcus! I actually miss the knucklehead."

Her mom laughed, "Yeah, well I bet he can't wait to see you too. I'm just hoping you're still not looking like Jeepers Creepers when he gets here," her mom teased.

"Rude!" Mercedes scoffed.

"I just call it like I see it, honey. Bye!" she bellowed before walking out the door and slamming it behind her.

Mercedes picked up the hand mirror, and grimaced at her reflection. With the front half of her weave out, and the back still intact, she did look like Jeepers Creepers.

Just then the doorbell rang. She figured her mother must have forgotten something, so she stood from her place on the couch and walked over to answer the door.

"What did you forget—"

Standing in front of her was Mike Chang smirking and her current state of hair. "Nice 'do, TaterTot."

She immediately shut the door in his face and ran back to the living room to find her head scarf. _What_ _the_ _hell_ _was_ _he_ _doing_ _here?_ She found her scarf and quickly tied it on her hair. She straightened herself out, took a deep breath and opened the door again. "Hello, Michael," she said straight-faced, head up, and shoulders back, with as much confidence as she could muster up.

"Really, Mercedes? You make it a habit of slamming the door on your friends?" he teased, as he walked in the door she held open for him.

Mercedes felt her whole face heat up in embarrassment. "Well I wouldn't have slammed the door in your face if you had called first to give me a heads up that you were coming over," she lectured as she made her way back to the couch.

Mike laughed sitting on the couch next to her. "And miss seeing you like this? I have no regrets." Mercedes narrowed her eyes at him. "Besides, you owe me a movie, remember?"

"Sorry, Mike, but I'm on a time-sensitive mission right now. I have to finish taking out my weave and wash my hair before my mom comes home or she won't do my hair," she explained.

Mike tugged on her head wrap. "I can help."

Mercedes jumped up from the couch. "No way!" There was no way he was going to see her in all her kinky-haired glory.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down next to him. "Come on. It'll go by much faster. Promise I won't judge," he reasoned.

Mercedes mulled it over a moment realizing she was losing precious time arguing with him. "Fine! But if you laugh, you die. Got it, Chang? I mean it, one peep and you're out of here."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Now let me take this off," he said reaching for her scarf.

She sighed, shut her eyes and let him take it off. He was quiet for a moment, and she began to feel insecure so she turned to look at him, only to find a puzzled look on his face. "What?" she questioned him.

His head tilted to the side observing her head. "How does it stay in there? Is it glued?"

Mercedes relaxed and giggled at his genuine perplexity. "No, Mike, it's sewed it in."

He looked even more confused. "Like how you sew clothes, with a needle and thread?"

"Yup, more or less just like that."

"Wow," Mike voiced in awe, "that's really state-of-the-art."

Mercedes couldn't help but laugh then. "If you say so, Mike. So are you going to help me or just stare at me?"

He smiled, "I could do both. But seriously how does it come out?"

"You cut the thread and pull it out. That releases the track of hair. Here are the scissors I use," she said handing them the pair. "They have a little hook on the end to catch the thread, see?" she pointed it out to him.

"Cool! Okay, well I'll need you to sit down on the floor in front of me, so I can see it better." She agreed and sat down in between his legs. "I'd hate to cut your hair."

Mercedes turned around. "Chang, if you cut off my hair, I'll cut off your bal—!"

"OKAY! I'll be very careful," he said grabbing her shoulders and turning her back around. "I'll cut the thread and you pull out... whatever needs to be pulled out."

"Okay, well let me grab the movie from my room, and I'll be right back. No lolly-gagging this time." Mercedes hopped up and retrieved the movie from her room. She popped it in the DVD player, and sat back down in front of Mike. "Okay get to cutting," she demanded.

"Bossy," he mumbled under his breath, as he began snipping at the thread.

"Heard that!" she retorted back. "So tell me, how was the dance practice?"

"It was pretty good. That Ryder kid really stepped up. I'm more surprised that Puck's little brother was only barely getting the steps down. After the Grease dance auditions, I expected so much more from him."

"Well maybe it's because this performance is worth a lot more than a play. Maybe the thought of competition is making him nervous and unable to perform like he should. Some people just can't handle the pressure."

"I guess you're right," Mike said concentrating on the task in from of him.

"Shh! The movie's starting!" Mercedes interrupted. She began to sing the entrance song of the movie musical.

**_"The sweetest sounds I'll even hear are still inside my head_**

**_The kindest words I'll ever know are waiting to be said_**

**_The most entrancing sight of all is yet for me to see_**

**_And the dearest love in all the world is waiting somewhere for me_**

**_Is waiting somewhere, somewhere for me"_**

Mike relished in the enchanting sound of Mercedes's voice as she sang. He could literally listen to her sing all day, and would if it were up to him. He looked up at the screen to see the two main characters sing alternating lyrics of the song. He smirked at the irony of it all. Two very different people, skirting around each other not knowing that everything they could possibly want is right there within reach. He looked down at the girl in front of him singing. _Her_ voice was sweetest sound he'd ever heard, _her_ words were the kindest ever said to him, _she_ was the most entrancing sight he'd ever beheld, and he truly believed that the dearest love in all the world wasn't just waiting for him somewhere, but right there in front of him. If only she felt the same way for him. He sighed at his fairy tale fantasy. Like the couple on the screen, true love would just have to wait.

Nearing the end of the movie, Mercedes's weave was completely out, and she and Mike were now unraveling the braids.

"I don't get it," Mike began. "Why did he have to fit every girl in the kingdom with the slipper? If he was smart, he would just gather up all the black girls with braids to try on the shoe."

Mercedes snickered. "Maybe he thought the short chubby blonde hair girl with blue eyes could have been it. What do you expect? It's Disney, the only place where a White king marries a Black queen and they make a Filipino prince."

"So are you telling me that you and I could make a Hispanic child?" Mike asked teasingly.

She laughed, "Yes, if we were Disney characters." Mercedes held up the mirror and ran her fingers through her thick long hair. "I think we're all done," she said standing up. "Time to wash."

Mike stood up scrubbing his hands along the front of his jeans. "Alright then, Mufasa. I'll catch ya later. Thanks for the movie." He made his way to leave.

"Hold it right there, Prince Charming," Mercedes commanded. "You can't leave a job you start unfinished. You have to help me manage and tame this ferocious mane." She let out snarl.

Mike laughed. "Okay, Miss Queen of the Jungle, are you gonna stand out in the yard and have me hose you down?"

"Um, no, Mike. As much fun as that sounds, I was thinking that the bath tub would be more appropriate." Mike arched an eyebrow. "Mind out of the gutter! We're not going to bathe together. It'll just be easier to wash my hair that away."

Mike just shrugged and followed the afro-clad girl up the stairs and to the bathroom. "You wait here, and I'm going to grab some towels and get changed into something more water friendly." Mercedes left and returned shortly wearing a black and purple animal print one-piece swim suit and black shorts.

Mike smirked. "Going swimming?" he laughed.

"Laugh it up, Chang, but this will be the only time you're allowed to get a black girl's hair wet," she said turning on the water. "Here's the shampoo and the conditioner," she handed him the bottled. "You'll lather, rinse, and repeat with the shampoo, and then apply the conditioner and we'll go from there."

"Yes ma'am," said Mike as he squeezed the shampoo in his hands. She dipped her head under the water. Just as quickly, she gasped and retreated from the water flipping her hair back, spraying Mike in the process. "What the hell, Mercedes?" he exclaimed grabbing a towel to wipe his face.

"The water's freezing!" she shouted adjusting the temperature of the water.

"Well you're the one who turned on the faucet!" he said splashing her face with water.

"Hey! What was that for?" she gasped in surprised.

"Now we're even," he simply stated before taking the towel he was using and drying her face off. He put his hand under the water. "I think it's warm enough. Let's get this done before Mama Jones get home."

Mercedes complied and slowly placed her head under the water gauging the temperature. When she was comfortable, Mike squeezed more shampoo into his hands and began to massage her hair with it. "This is kind of fun," he smiled shaping her hair into a mohawk. He rinsed it out, and repeated the steps again before applying and massaging in the conditioner as instructed.

Mercedes began to moan at the feel of his hands in her hair. It was strangely erotic but it felt so good she couldn't bring herself to be embarrassed at the sounds falling out of her mouth.

The sounds didn't help Mike's situation either. _'Here we ago again,' _Mike thought to himself. _'Why does everything she does have to be so damn sexy?' _He was brought back to attention by a louder groan.

"Mmm. That feels so good Mike," Mercedes groaned. "Can you do it harder?" He responded by kneading her scalp harder. But he found that wasn't the only thing getting harder. "Yeah, just like that. Right there, Mike. Mmm." she continued to moan.

Just when Mike thought he was going to lose it, the door to the bathroom bursted open. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

Mercedes jumped from under the water, this time drenching Mike with water and suds. "Marcus! What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't be home for hours," she said excitedly as she ran to give her older brother a hug.

He placed his hand out in front of him stopping her. "Hold up Little One. You're not about get me all wet. We got here early to surprise you but it seems it's the other way around. Why did it sound like Asian Persuasion over there was deflowering my baby sister?" he said crossing his arms in front of him.

Mercedes looked back at a nervous looking Mike drying himself off again. "Nothing like that was going on. My friend Mike here was just helping me get my hair ready for Mama to do it later on," she said looking back at Marcus.

He eyed the two suspiciously before saying, "Well I guess I'll let you kids finish up in here. And hurry up, Dad and I will be waiting downstairs." He turned to leave. "And keep it clean," he added shutting the door behind him.

They both let out a breath of air. Looking at each other, they busted out laughing. "Why are we acting like we got caught doing something bad?" Mercedes said in between giggles.

"Because YOU were making sounds like we were doing something bad," he said poking her in the side. She blushed and averted her eyes in embarrassment. He grabbed her hand. "Come on let's rinse this conditioner out of your head," he said leading her back to the tub.

After her hair was rinsed, she told Mike that he could find some sweats and a t-shirt in the bottom drawer in her bedroom to change into while his clothes dried. Once she finished drying her hair in the bathroom, she went to her room to find Mike sitting at her computer playing a game of Solitaire. He looked up when she entered the room, and immediately smiled at the sight of her.

"I know, I know," she said. "Now you see why I haven't worn my real hair out since I first joined glee club," she explained shyly.

Mike stood up and circled her as he examined her hair. Stopping in front of her, he pulled at a lock of hair and watched it recoil back into place. "I like it. I don't know why you don't wear it out."

"Remember 'Born this Way' week in glee club our junior year? Where we made shirts that stated things we were embarrassed or ashamed of?" Mike nodded remembering that he put CAN'T SING on his shirt. Mercedes sighed. "Well I put NO WEAVE on mine. People used to make fun of my hair so much that I refused to wear my natural hair again, only sporting my weave-tastic hairstyles," she said without humor looking down.

He lifted her head up, and looked into her eyes. "Well I think you look absolutely beautiful," he leaned in closer, lips barely touching, "just the way you are."

Mercedes could feel herself melt. Was he going to try to kiss her again? Did she want him to? If she was being honest with herself, she would give anything to feel his lips on hers. She could see the genuineness in his eyes, and knew there was more than just lust there, but adoration spewing out. She decided that she wasn't going to pull away this time, because this is what she wanted, what she secretly yearned for, and she'd be damned if she let her insecurities keep her from experiencing something... _magical_. _'Oh, Cinderella,' _she thought to herself.

She closed her eyes waiting to feel the softness of his lips merging with her own, but it never came. Instead she felt a delicate kiss placed on her forehead. When she looked up, he was no longer standing in front of her but behind her in the doorway. She turned to face him.

He smiled at her, "I'm going to go say hello to your father. I'll let you finish up in here, and I'll see you downstairs," he said to a silence-stricken Mercedes, shutting the door and leaving her to wallow in her sudden state of disappointment.

"Where's my fairy Godmother when I need one?" Mercedes said to herself.

* * *

**_AN: Hope you guys like this chapter. I've wanted to write this particular instance of Mikecedes fluff for a while, and I like the way it turned out. What do you all think? And what is wrong with our girl Mercedes? One moment she's running from Mike, next, she's running to him? Hope she doesn't miss out with all her indecisiveness. Until next time, review, review, review, or Sue Sylvester is going to continuously throw sticks at you. j/k =]_**


	6. Chapter 6

**May I just say that writing a fanfic is MUCH harder than reading one. Just sayin... HAPPY READIN'!**

* * *

Mike lie in bed staring up at the ceiling, trying to mentally urge himself out of bed to pack for his early morning flight back to Lima tomorrow. It was just two days before Christmas, and he was ready to see his family and friends again. He knew it was crazy to fly back on Christmas Eve, but being cast in a production of the _Nutcracker_ by one of the largest musical theater companies in Chicago, he couldn't pass up that chance. It was a small role, but it was the first major performance of his career, and he had been overjoyed nonetheless. He thought back to the day when he told Mercedes about this accomplishment.

* * *

_He shut the door to her room, took a deep breath and made his way down to the family room. "Hey, Dr. Jones!" Mike greeted entering the room to see Mercedes's father and brother sitting on the couch watching a football game. _

_Dr. Kenneth Jones looked up and smiled warmly at the boy who'd spoken to him. He rose off the couch to shake his daughter's friend hand. "Hello there, Mike. How've you been?"_

_"Good, sir. And yourself? How was your trip?"_

_"I'm doing fine, and the trip was about as exciting as a dentist convention could be. Teeth and dentures and cavities, oh my!" he exclaimed gesturing with his hands._

_"Shhh!" Marcus shushed. "Can you take your conversation to the kitchen? I'm trying to watch the game."_

_In the kitchen, Mike sat down at the breakfast bar, and Dr. Jones grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and sat across from Mike handing him a bottle. He took a gulp and asked, "So where's my baby girl?"_

_"She's upstairs getting dressed. She should be down soon. I know she's excited to see you. She misses you very much" Mike rambled nervously taking a sip of his water. He'd had conversations with Mercedes's father numerous times before, but that never ceased his nerves._

_Dr. Jones sighed. "She wouldn't have to miss me if she'd just gone to school in-state, instead of gallivanting off to Hollywood to chase after some silly dream. You know, I still blame that Evans kid for all of this. First, he gets her '_discovered'_, then he dumps her and pushes her away all the way to LA."_

_"With all due respect, sir, despite her recent breakup with Sam, she is happy living out her dreams, and doing what she loves to do. She's a phenomenal singer, and I have no doubt that she'll be a big star someday," Mike defended. "And if I'm being completely honest, Dr. Jones, if Sam hadn't broken up with her, she and I wouldn't be as close as we are now. And I wouldn't trade our friendship for anything else in the world."_

_Kenneth Jones quirked an eyebrow. Now Mike knew where Mercedes got it from. "You've got balls, kid," he said leaning forward. "Coming in _**my**_ house and telling _**me**_ about _**my**_ own daughter. Are you stupid in love, or just stupid?"_

_Mike choked on the sip of water he'd just taken. "Wh-what? I-I-I beg your *cough* p-pardon?" he stuttered._

_Dr. Jones ignored him and continued on. "But you're a dancer, huh? Your parents are on board with that? Surely, they must have given you grief about it."_

_Mike gathering himself back together, replied, "Well I'm not going to lie, sir. It didn't take my mother long to come around on the idea, but my father was another story. It took a lot, but he realized that while being a doctor may make a good living, my passion was dancing, and he just wanted me to be happy doing what I loved."_

_"And you realize how risky it is? There's no security in it. One injury and you're done, son. You may as well kiss your dreams goodbye," Kenneth said sitting back and crossing his arms. _

_Mike was getting pretty annoyed with this morbid conversation. "Well I guess it's a chance I'm willing to take." Mike leaned forward. "And if dancing doesn't work out for me, then I suppose I could always _SETTLE_ for being a doctor," he said smugly._

_Dr. Jones narrowed his eyes, and was about to retort, but Mike continued. "And not to brag, Sir, but I have only been in dance school for a few months and I've already been granted the opportunity to perform in a ballet for one of the largest theater companies in Chicago—"_

_"Oh my gosh! That's so great, Mike! Why didn't you tell me?" Mercedes had just bounced in wearing her onsie pajamas and her hair falling in ringlets around her face. The sight of her put smiles on both men's faces breaking the tension that had been building up. She gave him a hug. "I'm so proud of you, Mike&Ike! You have to get me a ticket."_

_"Hey, share some of that lovin' with your old man!" Dr. Jones boomed. Mercedes skipped over to her dad and gave him a tight squeeze around the neck and a peck on the cheek._

_"I've missed you, Daddy." _

_"Then come back home, Baby girl, and go to school at Ohio State," he pleaded. "You can study in the health field like me, or business like your mom."_

_Mercedes let go of him and rolled her eyes. "Not this again," she grumbled. "Dad, we talked about this before. This is my life to live. So let me live it and be happy doing so," she said looking him directly in the eyes._

_"But, Baby girl—"_

_"Come on, Mike," she said grabbing his hand, "let's go watch the game with Marcus until my mom gets home." She was already over this conversation._

_He was nearly out of the kitchen with her when he turned around to look at Dr. Jones. He nodded at Mike summoning him back. "Let me grab another bottle of water and I'll be right there," Mike said._

_"Grab me one, too, please," she said and then exited._

_Mike walked back over to Mercedes's father. "Yes, sir?"_

_The man stood up towering over him. He must have been 6'6 or 6'7. He peered down at the young man. "Look here. I talk. You listen. You're obviously in love with my little girl. And don't try to deny it. There is nothing new under the sun. But as hard as it is for me to admit, she's not little anymore. I can't bring myself to support the decisions that she's made without lying to myself about how I feel about them. But I know you do," he said pointing at Mike. "So be there for her, and support the hell out of her. And I'll just pray that I never have to tell her 'I told you so.'" And with that he left, leaving Mike alone in the kitchen to mull over what had just happened._

* * *

As Mike finished gathering his packed luggage and placing it near the door, he couldn't help but wonder if he was that transparent. Yeah, he loved Mercedes, but was he in love with her? What was considered the game changer? Oddly, the moment he knew he went from loving Tina to falling in love with Tina was when she was willing to put on a football helmet and almost die so that Mike could boast in a championship victory in football his last year of high school. But he didn't want Mercedes to be nearly dead before he knew how he truly felt...

**_"Woah, oh, oh, oh, oh_**

**_ Helltotheno-no, no-no, no-no, no-no"_**

He smiled at Mercedes voice in the form of his ringtone, and answered his phone. "Hey TaterTot!"

"Hey, Mike," Mercedes greeted in a less than chipper tone.

"What's wrong?"

"I know you forgave me for missing your performance of the _Nutcracker_, but I'm afraid I have more bad news..."

Mike remained silent as she spoke. He couldn't help but forgive her for missing his performance, because he was too happy for her. She told him that at one of the recording sessions where she was singing backup, the producer for that particular song called her out due to being highly impressed with her talent. He was actually award-winning producer Martin Van de Putte who'd worked with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Mariah Carey, and Beyoncé, and now he wanted to produce Mercedes freshman album. His plan had been to start recording right away so that she could release her first single by the start of summer and release her album by the end of it. Her dreams were coming true, and he would support her no matter what.

"...I won't be able to make it home for Christmas. Martin booked me a few gigs to get my name and music out there. He also suggested that I spend this holiday season getting some recording in because studio time is highly available this time of year. Please don't be mad," she begged.

"Mercedes, I couldn't possibly be mad. You're living your dream! I'm proud of you. Do you plan on going back to Lima at all within the next few months?" Mike asked, hoping she would say yes. He really wanted to see her sometime before the summer.

"I'm not sure. I hadn't really planned on it," Mercedes admitted.

"What about Mr. Schue's wedding? It's on Valentine's Day."

"Oh yeah," Mercedes remembered. "I may have to miss it. Valentine's Day is one of the biggest days of the years for parties, and Martin may make plans for me to perform. I'm sure Schue won't miss me. Not like he paid much attention to me while I was there, anyway," Mercedes said with a bitter undertone.

"Well I'll miss you," Mike admitted. "At least promise me you'll try to come home."

Mercedes sighed. "No guarantee, but I'll try... Oh, hey, it's Santana calling me. I'll patch her in. Put your phone on mute."

Mike really didn't feel like hearing any of Santana's drama. Truthfully, he didn't want to share his time Mercedes. He thought he'd be seeing her during the holidays but no such luck. Now he just wanted to enjoy her without anyone else's interruptions. He knew he was being selfish, but he was man enough to admit that he wanted her.

The line was no longer silent again. "Wheezy, you need to get a handle on your Trouty Mouth—"

"First of all, the name is Mercedes. Learn it, Satan..." Mercedes interrupted Santana.

"Touché," Santana responded.

Mercedes continued, "...and second, Sam does not belong to me. But since you have me curious, what'd he do this time?" she asked sounding bored with the conversation already.

Santana huffed. "Old Froggy Lips is crossing some major lines! Not only did he propose to, but he married my girl! Next time I see him, I'ma go all Lima Heights on his as—!"

"Santana!" Mercedes yelled over the line. "Simmer down, girl." Mike heard Mercedes sigh deeply before continuing. He was completely shocked at the news and was worried for how she would take it. "Now, I hear that you're upset, but there's nothing I can do to help. Sam and I don't even talk anymore. Have you tried talking to Brittany about it?"

"Yeah, I did. I told her I was happy for her," Santana replied matter-of-factly.

"But you're not."

"Yeah, but I don't want her to know that. I'm the one that called things off. I can't tell her that I'm jealous. Keep up girl!" Mike could practically hear Mercedes's eyes rolling in her head. "That's why I need you to seduce Sam with all your diva-liciousness, so I can swoop in and gets my Brittany back." Mike clenched his jaw.

"Santana, I have four words for you: Hell to the no!" she exclaimed. "I have enough going on without dealing with Sam drama."

Santana scoffed. "So you're telling me that you're not the least bit concerned that those two exchanged vows not even two whole days ago? _Marriage, Mercedes_!?" she emphasized.

Mercedes was quiet for a moment, and Mike knew she was probably thinking it over, contemplating on how she truly felt about it. "While I don't think it was the wisest decision for those two to make," she began, "nevertheless, it's still their decision to make. If they're good, then consider me great. Now if you don't mind, Santana, I have some things I need to get taken care of. Nice talking to you, and sorry I couldn't help you. But if you will excuse me, I have to go. Later." Mercedes hung up without giving her former classmate a chance to say goodbye.

Mike knew it was bad when Mercedes started talking all prim and proper, so he called her back immediately. When she answered, he spoke softly, "Cedes, are you okay?"

She sounded exhausted as if she'd just run a marathon. "I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't mean to hang up on you. I was just kind of tired of hearing about Sam. And the whole marriage thing kind of took me off guard."

"Yeah, me too," Mike agreed.

"But I wasn't lying when I told Tana I have some things to get taken care of. So how about I call you a little later before you go to bed? I know you have to go to sleep early tonight for your flight first thing in the morning," Mercedes said.

"Y-yeah. That's fine." Mike really didn't want to end the phone call with her, but he knew she needed some time to herself, and he respected that. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure. Bye, Mike," she replied and ended the call.

Mike was pissed. He didn't know why exactly. Well he did know why. Santana had to call and deliver Mercedes terrible news to her. And the fact that it was terrible news to her was what hurt the most. The more Mercedes stayed thinking about Sam, good or bad, the further away she was from letting that go and moving on with her life. Specifically, moving on to Mike. Mike again could admit when he was being selfish, but on top of it all, he hated to see his girl hurting. _'Yeah, my girl,'_ Mike thought to himself. So somebody had some explaining to do.

"Hey, man!" Sam greeted after answering Mike's call.

"Married, Sam!?" Mike growled cutting to the chase.

"Dude, chill. What's it to you?" Sam asked defensively. "How'd you find you out anyways?"

"I wouldn't be so worried on how I found out more than the fact that Mercedes already knows," Mike snapped.

Sam started, "Well I already gave her a heads up and told her that I would—"

"Date Brittany, not _marry_ her!" Mike interrupted.

The line fell silent for a few beats before Sam spoke again, more timid this time. "Is she mad?"

"Hurt, Sam. Cedes is hurting."

Mike heard Sam slap his forehead. "Crap! How did she find out?"

"From the Queen of Mean herself. Santana, of course," Mike answered as if it were obvious.

Sam groaned in frustration. "Why would she do that to purposely hurt Mercedes?"

Mike felt no remorse for the boy. "My question is why or how the hell did you and Britt get married?"

Sam chuckled nervously then. "It's kind of a funny story." Mike was far from amused. "Well we kind of thought the Mayan Apocalypse was going to end the world on December 21st, so we decided we should live our last day up. And since we were already dating, we figured there was no better time to take the next step, so Coach Beiste married us. Only problem was, we woke up on the 22nd." Sam finished, laughing nervously again.

Mike was floored. "Sam, I knew you were dense, but this takes the cake. Your case of stupidity has got my gi—_friend_ hurting right now." Did Mike just really almost call Mercedes his girl out loud?

"Mike, watch it with calling me stupid," Sam demanded angrily. "And why are you so concerned about Cedes? This has nothing to do with you, man. Butt out!"

"It's called being a _good friend_, Sam! But obviously, you know nothing about that." Mike was fed up with the nerve of this guy he once called his 'bro', and he just hung up. He'd heard enough. If he were thinking logically, he couldn't really blame Sam for moving on with his life. Hell, he wanted Mercedes to do the same. But what pissed Mike off was the fact that Sam was claiming to care about Mercedes and claiming to be her friend, but he stayed ignoring her and acting inconsiderately despite how she felt. With friends like Sam, she didn't need enemies. But Mike was determined to be there for her. He called up his dad.

"Dad, I need a huge favor... Can we change my ticket to a round-trip to LA... For today?"

* * *

Mercedes took the bag of popcorn out of the microwave and poured the contents into a bowl. She made her way back into her living room, popped in the DVD, and sunk into her couch. It'd been a long day and she was drained.

She'd recently returned from meeting with Martin, listening to different beats and songs she wanted to use on her album. While doing so she received texts from Kurt and surprisingly, Tina checking to see if she'd heard the news and if she was okay, and a phone call from Puck telling her to keep her head up because she's worth so much more than that. His words did put a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared when Martin played a song for her that he wanted her to record. She recognized the song from one of Danity Kane's CDs. She'd liked the album when it came out, but she remembered playing the competing Day26 record over theirs. The song was so full of emotion: pain, hurt, disappointment, insecurity. She wasn't sure it was the best idea to use that song. Besides, the song belonged to someone else; she was sure that couldn't be legal, but Martin assured her that he'd received permission to record the song. He thought it'd be a good song to show off her range, and tug on people's heartstrings. Mercedes knew he made sense, but the lyrics hit too close to home for her. Was she willing to be transparent for the whole world to witness?

That was why when she returned home, she knew it was a Madea play kind of day. She needed a bit of comedy to take her mind off of things. It was just after six, and it had been about 7 hours since she'd spoken to Mike. She figured she ought to call him now since it was a little past eight in Chicago, and he would be headed to bed soon.

He called him. "Hey, Cedes!" Mike said with excitement in his voice.

She tried to match his enthusiasm. "Hey! How are you?" she asked him.

"I should be asking you that," he said. "How ya holding up?"

Mercedes let out a sigh. "Honestly, I've been better, Mike. I wish I going home. I need some serious Mikecedes time with you."

Mike chuckled. "Mikecedes?" he asked surprised at the nickname. "Do you think we're deemed worthy enough to have our own fusion name?"

"Oh most definitely!" she answered proudly. "We may be the only ones to know it, but you and I together make an awesome team."

Mike smiled. "I couldn't agree more. Now, tell me, why are you needing some 'we-time'?"

Mercedes groaned, "It's just been a long day from that whole Sam episode to just having an emotional time in the studio today. And I have to go back tomorrow to record this heartbreaking song. I wish you could be there," Mercedes said sadly as she heard a knock at her door. "Hold on a sec, Mike. Someone's at the door." She placed her cell on her coffee table, got up from her place on the sofa, and went to open the door. "Who is it?" she called out.

"Your wish come true," a familiar voice answered back.

She swung open the door to see Mike Chang in the flesh standing at her door. "Oh my gosh! Am I dreaming right now?" Mercedes exclaimed in utter shock.

"Depends," Mike smirked stepping through the open door. "Do you dream about me often?"

* * *

"Mercedes, darling, I need more emotion from you. Are you even thinking about the lyrics you're singing?" Martin questioned her after stopping the music mid-song. It was her fourth attempt at recording the song 'Poetry', and she just couldn't get it right. She was actually trying to sing the song detached from any feelings whatsoever, but of course that wasn't working.

If Mercedes were being honest, she was afraid that the song would bring her mood down. It was Christmas Eve and her best friend was with her. They had stayed up late just talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Mike told her how he called and ripped Sam a new one, and Mercedes told him how Tina texted her to see if she was okay. Mike had joked and said that Tina was scoping out the latest news to gossip about. She was still surprised by his visit, so he explained how he convinced his dad to change the ticket, and that the difference in the prices could be his Christmas gift. He'd told his dad that his friend really needed him and he wanted to be there for her. His father loved Mercedes, mainly because she never complained about spending time with his parents, she was always respectful, and never overstepped her boundaries. Also for his parents' anniversary she prepared a meal and sang a song for them, and they both were smitten with Mercedes ever since. So he happily obliged, sending his love. Mike playfully frowned claiming that his mom and dad liked her more then him. Mercedes had hugged him saying that it was okay because he was her number one. The night ended with them both dozing off on the couch while watching the play 'Madea's Big Happy Family.' Mercedes woke up in the middle of the night, grabbed a blanket to cover Mike, and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, before making her way to her bed and falling asleep with a smile on her face.

"Yes, Martin," Mercedes said frustrated from inside the booth. "Can you just give me a minute?"

"You've got ten, and when I get back you WILL get it in one take." It wasn't a suggestion; it was a demand.

"Okay, Martin," she mumbled in response, as he left the studio.

Mike opened the door to the booth stepping in to see a discouraged looking Mercedes plopping down on a stool. "Hey, no offense, but you need to pull it together. What's going on with you, Cedes?"

Mercedes groaned and let her head fall back. "It's just this damn song! If I really tap into my feelings to sing it, I'll embarrass myself and probably break down in the middle of the song."

"But you sound like... cardboard." Mercedes picked her head up and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, but you sounded bland with no depth. Which is a hard feat considering how amazing your voice is." A small smile crept onto her face. He walked over to her and pulled her off the stool taking her spot on it. "Look, it's just you and me in here. No one else but us, so sing your heart out." He reached for her hand. "And if you fall apart, I'll be here to put you back together."

Mercedes conceded. She nodded, and took a deep breath. "Okay," was all she said as she took out her phone and started the instrumental on her phone. It was time to just let it all go in the song. Still holding Mike's hand, she closed her eyes and began to sing.

**_When I stand in a crowded room_**

**_I feel alone like nobody's there_**

**_And when you talk cold to me_**

**_I can see your breath in the air_**

**_It's taking its toll on me_**

**_In the bathroom taking showers_**

**_So you don't see me cry_**

**_Baby it's such a crime_**

**_I try to feel confident_**

**_I'm bitter - You're not making sense_**

**_I missed you 'til you almost took my sanity_**

**_I started a new verse like_**

**_Poetry, you're hiding behind the words you speak_**

**_Changing the words of the story_**

**_You say you don't love me then say that you love me_**

**_I'm fighting_**

**_You're hiding behind the words you're speaking_**

**_You're changing the words; I'm lost in the verse_**

**_You say you don't love me then say that you love me_**

**_Why are you hiding?_**

**_When I give you gratitude_**

**_You act like you don't hear me speak_**

**_When I tell you what you do to me_**

**_You don't even hear the truth_**

**_What are you trying to prove; I stare out of the window for hours_**

**_Cause you don't listen to me_**

**_You won't even look in my eyes_**

**_I try to feel confident_**

**_I'm bitter - You're not making sense_**

**_I missed you 'til you almost took my sanity_**

**_I started a new verse like_**

**_Poetry, you're hiding behind the words you speak_**

**_Changing the words of the story_**

**_You say you don't love me then say that you love me_**

**_I'm fighting_**

**_You're hiding behind the words you're speaking_**

**_You're changing the words; I'm lost in the verse_**

**_You say you don't love me then say that you love me_**

**_Why are you hiding?_**

**_Don't believe what you're saying_**

**_I read your face and I'm blanking_**

**_Cause I don't know what's in front of my eyes_**

**_I try to feel confident_**

**_I try to feel confident_**

**_I'm bitter - You're not making sense_**

**_I missed you 'til you almost took my sanity_**

**_Oh.. oh.. oh.. oh..._**

**_Oh.. oh.. oh.. oh..._**

**_Oh.. oh.. oh.. oh..._**

**_I'm starting a new verse like_**

**_Poetry, you're hiding behind the words you speak_**

**_Changing the words of the story_**

**_You say you don't love me then say that you love me_**

**_I'm fighting_**

**_You're hiding behind the words you're speaking_**

**_You're changing the words, I'm lost in the verse_**

**_You say you don't love me then say that you love me_**

**_Why are you hiding?_**

By the end of the song, tears were streaming down Mercedes's face from her still shut eyes. She slowly opened her eyes from the feeling of Mike's hands on either sides of her face. He was smiling at her, and his moist eyes with tears threatening to spill over didn't go unnoticed by Mercedes. "Beautiful," was all he said.

She looked down shyly. "Thanks, Mike. I really tried to just not hold back-"

"No," he said tilting her head back, "_YOU_ are absolutely beautiful."

_'Just_ _let_ _go_, _Mercedes_,' she said to herself as she slowly rose up on her tiptoes to close the space in between them. And like the gentleman Mike was, he met her halfway. They both seemed hesitant at first, but it was like their lips began doing a slow, sensual dance with each other.

Mike loved the way her lips felt on his. Better than he could have ever imagined. He could still feel the moisture produced by her tears and wiped them away before moving his hands from her face down her waist and pulling her body closer to his.

Mercedes moaned in response, snaking her arms up around his neck, and tugging his hair to pull him down, further deepening the kiss. She could not believe she was making out with her best friend, and the ex-boyfriend of her other best friend, and the best friend of her ex-boyfriend. But, boy, could he kiss! She could feel her stomach tightening as he swiped his tongue across her bottom lip to gain access, and she couldn't deny him or herself from the most amazing feeling she'd felt in a long time. She smiled against his lips when she felt one of his hands slide further down and squeezed her backside. He had a real obsession with her booty, but she couldn't bring herself to feel the least bit violated. In fact, she slipped one of her hands down his strong shoulders and muscular arms and bulging chest to caress his rock hard abs.

At the feel of her hands on his midsection, Mike groaned into her mouth and lifted her up and sat her down on the stool, standing in between her legs. He began to see stars behind his eyelids and realized it was probably from a lack of oxygen, so he begrudgingly pulled away but not before giving her one more quick peck to the lips. He gazed upon her face seeing her eyes still closed and a smile plastered on her face. He was so entranced by how gorgeous she looked even with tear-stained cheeks and swollen lips, that the words slipped out before he was even able to think about it.

"Mercedes, I love you."

Mercedes's eyes shot open. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. She was actually rendered speechless.

"Okay, Mercedes, honey! I hope you're ready to smash this song!" Both of their heads snapped towards the voice they heard coming from in front of the sound board. Martin had startled them both since they didn't hear his return. They turned to face each other, hope displayed on Mike's face, and fear written all over Mercedes's.

She jumped down from the stool. "Y-yeah, Martin, I'm ready." She mouthed a 'thank you' to Mike, and he took that as his cue to exit the booth.

It wasn't the response he'd hoped for, but he made his way out of the booth to where Martin was and took a seat on the couch behind him. Had he been too forward? Was he moving too fast? Did he possibly scare her away? All Mike knew was that for a dancer, he had terrible timing.

* * *

**A/N: So I hoped everyone enjoyed this chapter. I don't know why but it was really difficult to write, and honestly I'm feeling a tad self-conscious about. So please everyone review and let me know what you think. It could be a simple, "I love it!" or "I hate it!" or "This is simply a masterpiece!" lol Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks so much to everyone for following, reviewing, and fave-ing this story! Oh, and I don't own Danity Kane's song 'Poetry' and neither does Mercedes or Martin. =]**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the long wait. Just finished a semester of grad school and started another, and THEN my husband broke his laptop so we had to buy another one. School and Work has been killing me but I dedicated a day to getting this chapter out. There may be a few mistakes but I'll go back and edit. Well enough of the rambling, enjoy Christmas with MikeCedes... =]**

* * *

Mercedes unlocked the door to her apartment for her and Mike to walk in. She tossed her bag onto the couch and turned to see Mike still holding the door open.

"Um, what are you doing?" Mercedes questioned.

"Oh, just letting in the big, pink elephant that's been following us around since we left the studio," Mike stated to Mercedes before gesturing with his arm for the imaginary entity to enter.

Mercedes couldn't hide the confusion on her face. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

Mike shut the door and stood in front of her crossing his arms. "It means that ever since we shared that kiss at the studio, everything has just been awkward. And by 'everything' I mean you, Cedes." He said looking down at her standing his ground. This girl was driving him crazy. First, she didn't want him. Then she initiated a kiss, which Mike admitted was toe-curling. Then she was back to square one with all of her evasiveness.

Mercedes took a step back, so that Mike wasn't towering over her. "Mike, the kiss was amazing. I'll admit that. But that wasn't the… issue," she hesitated saying the last word. She almost said 'problem,' but she didn't think that would go over well.

Mike took a step forward, standing over her again, and unfolded his arms. "So what was the ISSUE, Mercedes?" He wanted her to acknowledge what he said. He wasn't going to let her get off this easy. Mike knew she'd heard him when he said those words to her, but she never mentioned it again. Well now, she had no place to hide. She couldn't just hang up the phone, or send him home like she'd easily done in the past. This was real. This was happening. And Mercedes had to face up to it.

Mercedes sighed and walked over to the couch to where she had tossed her purse and sat down. "Mike, can we not do this right now? We had a good day. We went to the studio, and you helped me through getting that song recorded. We went ice skating… in LA! Who does that?!" she exclaimed. "And we enjoyed walking along Candy Cane Lane seeing all those beautiful light decorations. Did you not have fun?" Mercedes asked timidly.

Mike threw his hands in the air. "Mercedes, don't do that! I enjoyed every moment with you, just because I'm with you. But don't act like you weren't acting distant and standoffish with me. And don't act like you don't know why." He walked around the coffee table and sat on the opposite end of the sofa as her. Turning his body towards her, he said, "Mercedes, you're the realest person I know. Stop acting. Stop pretending. Please," he begged.

Mercedes stared at her hands in her lap. She'd heard what he said in that booth after they shared that incredible kiss. She just didn't know what to say in response. And she still didn't. This was moving too fast again. Mike was going in hyper speed, and she just couldn't keep up. But he was here for her. Despite her inner mayhem, Mike had traveled halfway across the country to see her, and this was how she was showing her gratitude? He'd only been here a day, and there was already trouble brewing. But Mercedes knew she needed to cut it off before it got to its boiling point. She just had to be honest and straightforward. "Mike," she started looking up at him, "I heard what you said. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love you as well, but I don't think it's the same way that you love me. Despite, our kiss, you are still my best friend, and I love you. But as my friend. Nothing more—"

"Yet." Mike stated sure of himself. He scooted closer to her. "Mercedes, do you know how wonderful you are?" He grabbed her hands out of her lap. "I know we may be miles apart in distance, but this is only temporary. I'm going to make you love me. You'll see." He smiled smugly. "Y'know, sometimes, I wish I'd had the guts to speak to you during sophomore year. Then we'd be already past this, but Matt had called dibs and…"

"Wait a minute," Mercedes said trying to wrap her mind around what he just said. "Matt Rutherford? Called dibs on me? Since when did I become locker room talk?"

Mike laughed nervously, "Well, you see…"

"Spit it out, Chang," Mercedes ordered glaring at him.

Mike put his hands up in defense. "Well remember when, Kurt joined the football team and helped us to win our first game of the season?" Mercedes nodded in response. "Well Azimio Adams had made a deal with Kurt that if he could hook the two of you up, he would refrain from bullying Kurt the rest of the school year."

Mercedes was surprised. "Seriously? I don't remember Kurt ever bringing it up to me."

Mike smirked. "That's because Kurt told him, if I remember correctly, that he would never subject his best friend to such a Neanderthal. We had to hold back Adams from tearing into Kurt then and there. Told him we needed him alive to kick for us. He wasn't the happiest person but he laid off… for the time being."

"Wow," was all Mercedes could say. "But how do you and Matt come into play?"

"Well Matt figured the Kurt route was out of the question for him too, being he was a football player, so he'd decided to join glee himself to get closer to you. He asked me what I thought of you." Mercedes quirked an eyebrow at him. "I told him that you were a cutie. But what I was really thinking was that if he didn't get at you, I would."

Mercedes shoved him playfully. "Shut up! You were not!"

"Have you ever known me to lie, Cedes? We football players showed up to that carwash mainly to check out the Cheerios in bikinis…" Mercedes rolled her eyes at him. "…Hey, I'm just being honest. Anyway, we saw when you threw that rock through Kurt's windshield, and broke out in that dance number. What song were you singing again?"

"Um, 'I Bust the Windows Out Your Car,'" she answered as if it were obvious.

"Right!" Mike remembered. "Well we weren't really paying attention to the lyrics more than we were your sexy dance moves." He emphasized with a body roll. Mercedes laughed aloud at that. "The cheerios could have been riding around on peacocks wearing clown suits for all we knew. We were too busy talking about the girl with the dangerous curves and the moves to match. Matt and I were dancers still stuck in the metaphorical closet, so that's when you caught our eyes. So Matt joined glee and asked if I'd have his back and join too. That was just an excuse, 'cause I really loved to dance, so of course I joined."

Mercedes thought on that for a moment. "And what about Puck? Did he join 'cause he had a secret crush on me too?"

"Actually I think he joined just to get in the middle of the whole Quinn and Finn situation, now that I think about it. But I do remember when you dated Puck for that week, and he and Matt were beefing seriously. Puck just kept telling him it's not personal; it's business. And Matt was mad that he was using you like that. Told him that you were worth more than that, and that if he hurt you, Matt would personally ring Puck's neck," Mike explained.

"I can honestly say I'm shocked," Mercedes admitted. "Matt liked me that much? Really? I wish he would have told me. I kind of had a major crush on him too, but I thought he was way out of my league."

Mike was quiet for a moment before speaking. "What difference would it have made?"

"I don't know. Maybe something could have happened between us, maybe not. But now we'll never know because neither of us was brave enough to admit how we felt."

"Do you regret it?" Mike asked her.

Mercedes thought on that for a moment. "It's not that I regret it, because all in all, I'm fine with the way everything turned out. But I know the worst regret is not 'saying something and wishing you hadn't', but 'saying nothing and wishing you had'."

"That's interesting that you say that," Mike responded.

"Why is that?"

"Because when I express to you how I feel, you get all cold with me," Mike state matter-of-factly.

Mercedes mouth formed an 'o'. She walked right into that one. But he was right. He was only laying it out on the table, that way he'd have no regrets. He wouldn't have to wonder what would have been had he done this or had he not done that. Life was too short to second-guess yourself and overthink the little things. While this was all so confusing for her, she did know three things: Mike was her best friend, she loved him as such, but she wanted more from him. But why was she so scared to tell him. What was standing in the way of them just being with each other, aside from the apparent thousands of miles?

"Mike, this is so hard for me. I'm dealing with so much right now trying to jump start my career, school, overcoming heartbreak, and whatnot. You're the only constant in my life and I'm scared to change that. I'd love to be with you, and kiss you when I want, and hold you when I want, but then I remember, can we actually do that to our friends?"

"Who?" Mike asked, actually oblivious to whom she was referring.

"Duh! Tina and Sam. I know they dumped us, and they've been acting not very friendly toward us, but we can't be bad friends because they are. We are better than that. If we do this, we have to do this the right way. We have to tell them." Mercedes paused. "And because I'm not ready to do that, I think we should wait a little longer?" she stated more as a question.

"Ugh!" Mike groaned as he stood up and paced back and forth in front of Mercedes. It seemed as if he were fuming. Mercedes didn't know what to make of it until he just stopped in front of her, bent down grabbing her face, and kissed her so deep and hard that it literally took her breath away. After about ten seconds, he stood up straight and straightened his shirt out. "Now," he stated assertively, "if you want to let our exes decide our fate together, then that's on you, but just know, that's what you'll be missing in the meantime. I'm going to go take a nice cold shower." And with that, he walked off to the bathroom shutting the door behind him.

Mercedes was confused and oh so turned on at the same time. He wasn't happy with her in the least bit, but she knew he loved her despite her uncertainty and downright cowardice. And she knew he was right. She was so back and forth with everything, and he didn't deserve it. She left a note for Mike on the coffee table, grabbed her keys and purse and hurried off to the nearest Walmart.

* * *

When she returned back to her apartment, Mike was already sound asleep on the sofa, and she knew she needed to work fast but quiet if she were going to pull off her Christmas surprise for Mike before morning. She first started by preparing the cookie dough and putting in the oven and then began decorating her living room. She tried not to hum as she worked but the Christmas spirit was in the air and it was intoxicating.

It was almost four in the morning when she was finishing up by thumbtacking two stockings she'd decorated on to the wall under her makeshift mantel. Hers was purple and said 'TaterTot' written in gold glue paint, and his stocking was blue with 'Mike&Ike' in orange, red, and green glue paint. She placed the gifts in each stocking. The three foot tall Christmas tree was up and decorated in an assortment of colors and lights. She'd pretty much picked out ornaments and lights that were the least expensive no matter the color. There was tinsel draped all over the furniture and she'd thumbtacked a piece of mistletoe onto the wall behind her couch. The cookies were sitting out and wrapped with Christmas themed cling-wrap with a bow on top, and a note she'd written for Mike.

She took one more look around the small space and was pleased with what she had accomplished in such little time on such short notice. With a job well done, she drug herself to bed to get a few hours of sleep before she had to beat Mike waking up. As soon as she hit the pillow, visions of sugar-plums were already dancing in her head.

She awoke to the sound of Mike talking on the phone. Crap! She overslept. _"Merry Christmas, Mom. And tell Dad the same… Yes ma'am… No ma'am, I'm not getting into any trouble out here… Mom! I'm not a kid anymore. Wait, let me step outside. I don't want to wake Mercedes."_

She heard her front door open and shut. She took that as her cue to quickly clean herself up and get changed into her Christmas attire. When she was all set, she snuck a peek outside of her bedroom door and saw that Mike was still gone, so she quickly made a sign that read 'PRESS PLAY', put it on her iPod dock, and went back to her room to wait.

Shortly after, Mike came in. He smiled looking around the apartment and was still amazed at what Mercedes had put together. She may drive him nuts sometime, but he loved the girl, and this was just another reason to add to the list why. He saw the cookies wrapped up and sitting on the counter with a note on them. _"To my Santa Baby. Something sweet for someone sweeter."_ He chuckled at the note as he poured himself a glass of milk, and took the cookies to the couch he'd been sleeping on to eat and wait for Mercedes to wake up. He was halfway through devouring his first chocolate chip cookie when a sign caught his eye. "That wasn't there before, was it?" he asked himself. He reached over to the side and did as instructed.

When Mike pressed play on the iPod dock player, the music filled the small apartment, and sauntering in came Miss Mercedes Jones wearing a very short and sexy Mrs. Claus costume topped with a Santa hat. She sure was a sight for sore eyes as she begin to move seductively and sing to the song playing.

**_Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me.  
I've been an awful good girl,  
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight._**

**_Santa baby, 54 convertible too, Light blue.  
I'll wait up for you dear,  
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight._**

**_Think of all the fun I've missed,_**  
**_Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed,_**  
**_Next year I could be oh, so good,_**  
**_If you'd check off my Christmas list,_**  
**_Boo doo bee doo._**

**_Santa honey, I wanna yacht,_**  
**_And really that's not a lot,_**  
**_I've been an angel all year,_**  
**_Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight._**

**_Santa cutie, there's one thing that I really need - the deed._**  
**_To a platinum mine,_**  
**_Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight._**

**_Santa baby, fill my stocking with a Rolex, and checks._**  
**_Sign your 'X' on the line,_**  
**_Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight._**

**_Come and trim my Christmas tree,_**  
**_With some decorations bought at Tiffany's,_**  
**_I really do believe in you,_**  
**_Let's see if you believe in me,_**  
**_Boo doo bee doo._**

**_Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, A ring._**  
**_I don't mean on the phone,_**  
**_Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight,_**  
**_Hurry down the chimney tonight,_**  
**_Hurry down the chimney tonight_**

**_Hurry, Tonight_**

Mercedes ended her number sitting in Mike's lap and placing her Santa hat on his head. She pointed at the mistletoe above them, and he rose his eyebrows expectantly. Without saying a word he pulled her closer by her waist as she slipped her arms around his neck and went in for a slow, sweet kiss. She smiled against his lips as she slowly pulled away. "Merry Christmas, Mike."

"Merry Christmas, Cedes," he smiled back. "You're amazing, you know that? How'd you pull all this off?" he asked reaching around her and grabbing another cookie. Taking a huge bite, he grumbled, "And these are freak-awesome!"

Mercedes slapped his chest playfully. "Thanks, Mike. You deserve it, and a lot more. Look, I just want to apologize for all this confusion that I've caused the both of us. And I did all of this to say..." she placed her forehead on his, "…I want to try 'us' out. Will you be mine, Mike Chang?"

Mike grinning from ear to ear, pecked her lips and squeezed her tight. "I thought you'd never ask! I'd be honored!"

"But…" she started.

Mike's face dropped a bit. "But what?" he asked skeptically.

"Can we kind of keep this between you and me? I mean, we can tell our families, but I'm not going to lie and tell you that I'm ready for all of the glee fam to know just yet. Are you mad?" she asked nervously peeking through her eyelashes.

To Mercedes's surprise, Mike's mouth widened into a smile. "You know what? I respect that, Mercedes, and I can honor your terms. I'll take what I can get, and if that means hiding this from our friends for a while, then it'll be our little secret."

Mercedes couldn't believe how lucky she was. Here she was on Christmas, sitting in the lap of a hot guy who's sweet and smart and just incredible, and who's crazy in love with her. The look on his face as he gazed at her was filled with love and adoration. She hadn't felt this way in a while, and it felt damn good. She smiled at him, "Have I ever told you how wonderful you are?"

"Not enough," he teased, earning an eye roll from Mercedes.

"Well you are. And I wish I had more money to buy you a better Christmas gift but I had to get a little creative, as you can see," she gestured to their surroundings.

"If you don't give me anything else in life, that sexy song and dance, and that kiss will always be enough," he swooned. "Oh, and these cookies! Mmm!" he groaned in delight.

She giggled, as she felt a heated blush creep upon her cheeks. "Well I got you a little something anyways. It's not much, but it's something. Go look in your stocking."

He went over to the stockings and reached inside pulling out a key chain with a charm on it. It looked like a slice of bread with peanut butter spread on top. "Um… it's great, Mercedes." Mike said with confusion lacing his words.

Mercedes laughed and went to retrieve the contents of her own stocking. It was also a key chain with a charm of a slice of bread, but this had what looked like to be jelly spread on top. "See?" she showed him her matching charm. "Peanut butter and jelly." He still looked a bit confused, so she explained more. "They're friendship charms. You're the jelly to my peanut butter, so I keep the jelly charm."

Mike smiled looking down at his charm. "And you're the peanut butter to my jelly. Smooth, creamy, and delicious." He winked at her playfully, then asked. "But why friendship charms, if you'd planned on being more than friends?"

"Because," Mercedes said, taking his hand and leading him back to the couch, "no matter what happens between us, I want us to never forget the friendship we share. It's our foundation. It's where we started."

Without saying a word, Mike pulled out a box and opened it to reveal a golden heart locket necklace. Engraved on it were two Ms with a diamond between the letters. He opened it to show her a picture of the two of them, and she'd recognized the picture instantly. In the original picture, Sam was standing on her other side, and Tina was on the other side of Mike. She looked up from the locket with a puzzled look on her face. "Mike, we have a lot of pics of just the two of us. Why'd you use this picture?"

Mike smiled as he reached behind her to fasten the necklace around her neck. "Because it shows that even from the bad, something beautiful can emerge. And while friendship is where we started. This," he fingered the locket resting on the swell of her breasts, "is where we're going. I love you, Mercedes Jones," was the last thing he said before she captured his mouth with hers in a kiss full of affection, longing, and passion.

* * *

**So what'd you guys think? I hope you like it. I'm not going to lie, I have no idea where this story is going. I'm trying to keep it with canon but there's a lot I have to create with Mike and Mercedes offscreen. I have all these scenes playing in my head but I have to wait for the right time to use them. It's a challenge, but I like it! =] And thanks everyone so much for the reviews! It's so motivational. I love opening up my inbox to see the reviews and follows and favs. I get all giddy and show them off to my husband. So yeah, Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think! Review, review, review! **


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